Chimera Luffy
by mellra
Summary: What if Luffy ate a different Devil's Fruit as a child? Not just any fruit, but the most powerful of the Zoan fruits, the Chimera-Chimera Fruit. It is a legendary Zoan fruit that allows the user to take on the forms of any Zoan fruit users, as well a true form as the mythical chimera. How will this change the course of the One Piece world? Pairing most likely Luffy/Boa Hancock, but
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the anime/manga/movies/etc. that I write about; otherwise I would be a millionaire NOT writing on fanfiction publishing my own ideas.

Summary: What if Luffy ate a different Devil's Fruit as a child? Not just any fruit, but the most powerful of the Zoan fruits, the Chimera-Chimera Fruit. It is a legendary Zoan fruit that allows the user to take on the forms of any Zoan fruit users, as well a true form as the mythical chimera. How will this change the course of the One Piece world? Pairing most likely Luffy/Boa Hancock, but not till much later.

**Chimera Luffy**

Years ago there was a man named Gol D. Roger, or as he was better known as "Gold" Roger, who held the title of Pirate King, due to his conquering of the toughest sea known to man: The Grand Line. Before his execution, he was asked where his vast treasure was. His final words were, "My fortune is yours for the taking, but you'll have to find it first. I left everything I own in one piece." This started the golden age of piracy where every pirate in the world went searching for 'One Piece' in hopes of becoming the next ruler of the seas as the Pirate King.

Time passed and we find ourselves ten years later in the quiet town of Windmill Village. Or not so quiet, since a band of pirates under the command of "Red-Haired" Shanks, one of the Four Emporers of the Sea, four of the most powerful pirates of that era. What would this vicious band of bloodthirsty sea-dogs be doing in such a remote part of the world you ask? They were partying like there's no tomorrow in the local tavern with some of the locals. At the bar of the tavern we see a young boy by the name of Monkey D. Luffy and Shanks, captain of the Red-Haired pirates. Luffy is a young seven year old boy with jet black hair, a white shirt with a picture of an anchor on it, blue shorts, and a bandage currently under his left eye while "Red-Haired" Shanks is a slightly average height man wearing a button down long-sleeved white shirt, black pants with a sash holding them up, sandals, three vertical scars over his left eye, and a straw hat over his bright red hair, hence the nickname. The reason for the celebration was also the reason Luffy currently had the bandage under his eye. In order to prove his manliness to the pirate crew, Luffy had taken a dagger and cut himself to prove that he could withstand pain, despite the fact that he had tears in his eyes and was obviously trying to hold out crying like a little baby. The crew had decided to hold a party to, in their own words, 'celebrate Luffy's craziness.'

"That didn't hurt at all!" said Luffy in a voice that would make it obvious to a brainless monkey that he was lying.

"Liar," said Shank's, his crew, most of the people in the village, and anyone who's ever read the first chapter of the One Piece manga.

"I'm not afraid of pain at all! Next time bring me out to sea!" exclaimed Luffy in the excited voice of a child ready for an adventure, "I want to be a pirate too!"

"You can't handle being a pirate! Being able to swim is a pirate's greatest weakness!" Said Shanks while supporting a knowing smile on his face, most likely thinking back to when he first wanted to become a pirate.

Luffy, with a ticked off look on his face shot back, "As long as I stay on the ship I'll be fine! Besides my fighting is pretty good too! I've been training my whole life and my punch is as strong as a pistol!" Luffy finished with a proud grin on his face.

Shanks seemed skeptical at the young boy's high opinion of himself, but his crew wasn't helping the matter by telling Luffy how awesome the life of a pirate is. Luffy listened enthusiastically, his eagerness only increasing by the minute. Shanks tried to act as the voice of reason by telling Luffy that he was still too young to live the life of a pirate, which Luffy heatedly denied.

"Don't be mad, here have some juice," Shanks said with a mischievous smile. Luffy thanked the pirate and drank the juice down with the usual child-like enthusiasm. As soon as Luffy was done with the juice Shanks could no longer hold it in and burst out laughing, "You really are a kid! That's too funny!" He gasped out between bouts of laughter.

"That was a dirty trick!" Luffy cried indignantly as he watched the captain laugh at his expense. Luffy left the bar table in a huff muttering about the indignity of it all when he noticed Shanks' first mate, Ben Beckman, make a come here motion while lighting up a cigarette.

"Luffy, while I understand that you're upset, you should try to understand the captain's feelings," the pirate said between puffs of smoke. Seeing the small boy's confused expression, Ben explained, "While the captain knows that being a pirate is interesting, he also knows that the life of a pirate is hard and very dangerous. You understand? He's not purposely teasing your ambitions of being a pirate."

"I don't understand!" Luffy said irritated. "Shanks just takes me for an idiot," Looking in said man's direction, Luffy noticed Shanks stifling his giggles about the prank he just pulled. "See?!" Luffy shouted while pointing an accusing finger in Shanks' direction.

A distraction came in the form of the bar's owner Makino asking Luffy if he wanted something to eat. Never one to pass down food, especially food of the meat variety, Luffy eagerly plopped down next to Shanks and dug in to his food. Luffy then asked how long the pirates would be staying and, after finding out they would be staying for the year, promised Shanks that he would learn to swim by that time. Suddenly the tavern's door was kicked open by a man who looked like a cross between a hobo and a street thug walked in. Eyeing the pirates seated around the bar, the obvious meth addict made a snarky comment on the pirates' appearances despite the obvious fact that he was obviously outnumbered 50:1 against superior opponents, which let us know that the man has an IQ that makes Luffy seem like Steven Hawking. Everyone was looking at the sad excuse of a bandit that they never noticed Luffy eating an oddly colored and shaped piece of fruit, not even Luffy. The hobo man walked up to the bar and introduced himself as a bandit and demanded ten barrels of sake for he and his men. When told that the sake was sold out, the self-proclaimed bandit leader frowned and looked around the room.

"Oh, that's strange, then what are they drinking? Is it water?" the bandit, whose name was Higuma, asked.

"No it's sake, but it's all we had," explained Makino to Higuma.

"Sorry about that," said Shanks trying to diffuse the situation. "Looks like finished all the sake here. Here, if you don't mind take the last bottle." He said while holding up the unopened bottle of sake, which Higuma promptly smashed sending sake splashing all over the pirate captain, much to the shock of Luffy and the other's present in the bar. Most likely they were shocked at the stupidity of the bandit once again ignoring how outnumbered and out classed he was.

Higuma went into a small rant on how he was the prime fugitive figure around the village and how his head was worth $8,000,000 and blah, blah, blah. Shanks ignored the man in favor of cleaning up the newly created mess on the floor. Higuma, seeing as no one seemed to give a crap about what he was saying took out his sword (not like that, you perverts), and proceeded to smash all the glassware on the bar right on top of Shanks. Seriously, you'd think he'd quit while he's ahead. With a few more condescending words, the bandit leader stormed out of the tavern. As Makino checked on Shanks to see if he was all right, which he assured that he was, the rest of the pirate crew started cracking jokes on what just happened, with Shanks joining in to the laughter. The only person not laughing, however, was Luffy.

"Why are you laughing?" Luffy shot out while looking quite ticked. Seeing Shanks' puzzled expression, Luffy went on a slight rant saying, "That was disgraceful! Why didn't you fight him?! So what if they have more people? Who laughs after getting picked on? You're not a man and not a pirate either!"

Shanks paused for a second before saying, "Look Luffy, I know how you feel, but it's just a bottle of sake. There's nothing to get worked up about." Seeing as Luffy didn't like this answer and was leaving towards the door in a huff while calling Shanks a coward and that he didn't want to see him again, Shanks reached out to stop him saying, "Oh come on. Don't go Luffy…"

Shanks stopped mid-sentence as Luffy suddenly came to a halt gripping his stomach as if he was in pain. "Luffy are you all..?" Shanks started to ask before Luffy fell to the floor screaming in pain. "My body feels like it's on fire!" Luffy managed to say before continuing his screaming and withering. Shanks and Makino were about to get a doctor before they and all the pirates in the bar noticed Luffy go through a startling transformation. Luffy's head and body became like that of a lion with goat horns, his arms became reptilian like with sharp claws but maintained their opposable thumbs, his back legs took the shape of a goats, and finally a long, lizard-like tail elongated from his spin. The entire bar was silent, save for Luffy's slightly animal-like gasps as he tried to steady himself. All the pirates and Makino stared wide-eyed and pale-faced at what Luffy had just become. Shanks was the first to compose himself, seeing similar things during his many years on the Grand Line.

"Luffy, are you all right?" Shanks managed to ask in a voice just above a whisper.

"Y-yeah," Luffy managed to stammer out in slightly deeper voice, not that anyone really noticed or cared at this point. "Whew that was weird, almost felt like my entire body was being turned inside out. Must have been something I ate." Luffy mused before turning and noticing that most of the other people in the bar were still staring at him in wide-eyed shock. "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" Luffy asked while everyone in the bar felt the urge to face-fault despite the shock they were still feeling. Most of the pirates were starting to get over their shock and took a closer look at the transformed boy. Despite his animal appearance, Luffy wasn't much different than when he was human. He was larger, but only by about 6 inches, his new mane was as black as his hair had been before the transformation, his eyes still held the child-like innocence they once held, only with slitted pupils. He still wore his clothes, but they seemed bulky under his new form and his bandage fell off, reveling a small scar under his left eye. What finally brought the pirates out of their daze was the confused expression held on Luffy's feline face, something that would make most little girls squeal on how cute it looked.

Luffy, meanwhile, was started to get annoyed that no one was answering his question and hurried over to the mirror near the bar table, not noticing the changes to his body because a) now that the initial pain was over his body felt just like it always did, he just couldn't figure out why his clothes suddenly felt tight and why if felt like his spine was longer somehow and b) this is Luffy we're talking about. He probably wouldn't notice a forest fire unless someone pointed it out to him. When Luffy reached the mirror and looked in he gave a startled yelp and fell backwards. Getting up he went to look in the mirror again and noticed the strange, wide-eyed creature in it was following his movements exactly. It was then he looked down and took notice of his body. Luffy felt his panic growing as he looked over the changes his body had and looking behind him he finally noticed his tail. "HOLY CRAP! I HAVE A TAIL!" Luffy shouted out in shock. This caused any remaining shock the residents of the bar were feeling to disperse and they all sweat-dropped.

'_He only now noticing the tail?"_ everyone thought with exasperated expressions on their face.

"Hey captain," said Lucky Roo, a slightly fat member of the Red-Hair pirates who was almost constantly snacking on a drumstick, "you don't think Luffy…Oh no!" he shouted, "The Chimera fruit from our chest is gone!" Lucky exclaimed while looking at the now empty chest next to where Luffy was sitting. Quickly going over to Luffy, Lucky pulled out a drawing of the fruit from…somewhere and asked the monster-like boy, "Luffy, did you eat this?!"

Luffy, with a slightly confused look on his transformed face said, "Well yeah, isn't that dessert? It tasted pretty bad tough."

Shanks ran up to the animal hybrid and shouted out, "That was the Chimera-Chimera Fruit! It's one of the most powerful of the legendary Devil's Fruit! It's said whoever eats it can become any animal the person can think of as well as the mythical beast, the chimera!"

Shock seemed to go over Luffy's face before he broke out into a wide Cheshire-cat grin, "You mean I can become any animal? Like a tiger or an eagle?" He asked excitedly.

Shanks, able to calm himself down some, looked at Luffy with a serious expression, "Yes Luffy, you can become all that and more. The Devil's Fruits are one of the rarest treasures of the sea. There are three types of Devil's Fruit: the Parmecia, which gives the user super-human abilities like being able to stretch like rubber or separate their body parts; the Zoan, which allows the person to become a certain animal as well as an animal-human hybrid; and the Logia, which turns the user's body into an element like fire or lightning. You Luffy, ate a Zoan fruit. Unlike other Zoan-type Devil's Fruit it is not limited to one type of animal or human-animal hybrid, as well as gives the user the form of the legendary Chimera, like what you are now. That is why it is considered a Mythical Zoan fruit due to its ability to turn the user into a legendary creature. However, it is said whoever eats a Devil's Fruit is cursed by Sea Devils and will never be able to swim!"

Luffy gained a shocked expression and cried out, "Whaaaaat?! Are you kidding me?!"

"You idiot!" yelled Shanks.

**Time skip**

A few weeks had passed since Luffy ate the Chimera fruit, and after a few hours of concentration he didn't know he had, Luffy was able to finally shift back into his human form. He was still trying to figure out how to shift between forms at will, as well as how to shift into other animals, but so far the only progress he made was being able to change his hands into the reptilian claws of his Chimera form. Life had went back to normal in Windmill Village. The Red-Haired pirates had gone sailing for a few days, the mayor of the town was annoying Luffy by repeatedly telling him to avoid hanging out with the pirates, and Luffy was getting the tar kicked out of him by Higuma and his gang of bandits…wait, what?

Let's rewind a bit. Luffy was back in the bar talking to Makino about Shanks when Higuma and his men came barging in and demanding sake and soon started insulting the Red-Haired pirates. This soon escalated into a fight between Luffy and the bandits as Luffy tried to force Higuma to apologize about the bar incident with Shanks. Luffy then tried to use his Fruit's powers to transform into his chimera form to teach a lesson to the bandits, but thanks to his crappy control over his powers and his increasing anger towards the bandits, he was only able to make his arms into their reptilian claws like usual. Not one to back down, Luffy still tried to attack Higuma but was easily knocked back, only managing to slightly tear the end of the bandit's coat.

"You're a different type of human, aren't you," Higuma observed while looking at the slight tears in his coat, "and you've ruined my best coat. Maybe I should sell you to the circus as payback, hm?" Luffy made several attempts to clobber the bandit, but said bandit was able to easily knock the Chimera boy around like a kicked puppy. The mayor and Makino came and tried to apologize for Luffy's actions, but the bandit decided to kill the seven year old out of sheer annoyance due to Luffy constantly insulting the man. Just as it looked like the end for Luffy, and a really crappy start of a story, Deus Ex Machida decided to raise its head in the form of the Red-Haired pirates returning to port. Shanks noticed the lack of welcome and, deciding to check out what was wrong, came upon the scene just as it looked like Higuma was about to kill Luffy.

"Luffy, what's wrong? Didn't you say your punch was strong as a pistol?" Shanks asked as he casually walked up to where the bandits were. Higuma, annoyed by the interruption, threatened Shanks to mind his own business while one of his men pointed a pistol directly against Shanks' head. "Well since you pulled out your gun, I guess we have to fight. You know, you really shouldn't use guns to threaten people." Just then, Lucky Roo appeared out of nowhere, killing the bandit with a quick shot to the temple with his own pistol. The bandits and villagers stared at the scene in shock. Higuma recovered his senses and started yelling on how the pirates were using dirty tricks. "Dirty? Don't make me laugh. The people standing in front of you aren't saints, we're pirates," stated Shanks calmly, "Now listen well bandits, you can insult me, you can pour drinks on me, but one thing I can't forgive no matter what the reason, NOBODY hurts my friends!"

Higuma laughed this treat off and sent his men to kill the pirates. Ben Beckman stepped forward and, using his rifle as a club, beat all of the bandits in a matter of minutes. Higuma, realizing how screwed he was tried to defend his actions by saying Luffy started it. Shanks easily dismissed this, saying they'd just turn in the bandit's bounty. The leader of the downed bandits threw a smoke bomb and escaped in the confusion, taking a beaten Luffy with him. Higuma went out to sea on a small dingy with Luffy and, seeing as he didn't need the kid as a hostage anymore, cruelly kicked Luffy into the ocean were he immediately started to drown. Higuma was so busy laughing at Luffy's expense that he didn't notice the huge shadow raise up behind him. By the time he turned around, he and his boat were already being swallowed whole by a large, eel-like sea king. The large serpent then tried to snatch up a struggling Luffy, but he was pulled out of the way just in time by Shanks. "Get lost," Shanks stated while giving the sea king a look that would make most men lose control of their bowels. The sea-king immediately swam off leaving a sobbing Luffy and Shanks bobbing in the ocean. "Makino told me what happened. Thanks for sticking up for us Luffy." Luffy continued to sob and Shanks said, "Oh come on Luffy, boys don't cry."

"But…Shanks…YOUR ARM!" Luffy cried out while looking at the bleeding stump that used to be Shanks' left arm. "It's nothing, just an arm. As long as you're alive."

Luffy learned a valuable lesson that day, that the sea could be a very dangerous place, which was why Shanks didn't want the boy to become a part of his crew. However, Luffy soon noticed a problem, they were in the middle of the ocean with no boat in site, sense Shanks' lifeboat drifted off during the excitement and Higuma's boat was in the belly of an over grown eel. Luffy then notice how pale Shanks' was starting to look as well as the amount of blood pouring out of his new handicap. '_I've got to do something!'_ Luffy thought, _'Shanks may die, and it will be all my fault!'_ Realizing the seriousness of the situation, and that his new found hero's life may be in danger, Luffy gathered on previously unseen determination in himself.

_'I've got to save him! I can't let him die like this! Stupid body won't let me swim! Please, give me the strength to save him, let me…huh?' _Luffy then noticed a change to his body, while he might feel as natural as he normally did, he realized he was no longer sinking, in fact he was swimming! He also noticed that his body felt more powerful in a way and it felt like he could hold his breath longer, and when he breathed in it almost felt like he was taking air in from the top of his head.

As this was happening, Shanks was busy thinking on the fastest way to get to land. _'Okay, I have no boat and I'm fairly injured with a seven year old who can't swim. It'll be tough, but I should be able to make it back to land and to a doctor with plenty of time to spare. Now to grab Luffy and…what the?' _Shanks noticed he was no longer holding onto a small child; instead he was gripping the dorsal fin of a young dolphin! "Luffy? Is that you?" Shanks asked incredulously. "Yeah Shanks, it's me! Looks like I learned how to swim after all, and with a Devil's Fruit too!" The porpoise happily chirped "No time to question it, we better get you back to land!" Shanks nodded dumbly as dolphin shot through the water with him holding on tight. '_This kid, he just continues to surprise me.'_ Shanks mentally chuckled.

**Time skip**

A few weeks had passed since the bandit incident, and it was now time that the Red-Haired pirates had to set sail from Windmill Village. Luffy was standing before Shanks as the pirate captain asked the young boy if he was upset over their leaving.

"Yea but…I won't force you to take me with you any longer. I'll become a pirate by myself!" said Luffy.

"Heh," chuckled Shanks before sticking out his tongue at the Chimera boy and saying teasingly, "I wouldn't take you even if you begged me. You don't have what it takes to be a pirate!"

Luffy got a large tick-mark on his forehead and shouted back at Shanks, "Yes I do! One day I'll find a crew that is as strong as yours! And then I'll find the world's biggest treasure! And become King of the Pirates!"

As his crew looked on in amusement, Shanks said, "Oh, you want to be bigger than us huh? Well then…" Reaching up, Shanks took the straw hat that he had on his head and placed it on top of Luffy's head saying, "This hat is my gift to you. This is my favorite hat, you know. So when you become a great pirate in the future, return that hat to me."

With that, the Red-Haired pirates hauled anchor and sailed off, leaving the waving townsfolk and the crying Luffy in the distance. They were not seen in the village again for many, many years.

**Time skip**

It had been 10 years since the Red-Haired pirates had left Windmill Village. The villagers were once again gathered around the ports, this time to bid farewell to a 17 year old Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy had changed a bit over the years. What was once a small boy was now an average height young man with lean, athletic muscles if you looked closely. He still carried the small scar under his left eye, but his wardrobe had changed drastically. He now wore a button down red vest and jean shorts that cut off slightly above the knees. He wore simple sandals on his feet and had Shanks' straw hat on top of his raven black hair. Also added to his attire was a semi-large Bowie knife tucked into a sheath located on his belt with a red handle and a gold guard over the blade.

Currently was on a small skiff about a mile away from his village's harbor when the water in front of his boat started to bubble and the large eel monster from his childhood suddenly burst from the ocean's depths!

"Oh hey!" called Luffy, "You come to see me off?"

The sea king nodded his large head before causing a small wave that propelled Luffy's skiff forward with the power of a jet ski. Laughing, Luffy turned around and waved good-bye to the over-sized eel, who again nodded its head before diving back down beneath the waves. What caused this sudden change in behavior you may ask? Well over the years, Luffy had perfected his Chimera powers to the point where he could become any animal, as well as any animal-human hybrid, so long as he knew what said animal looked like. A few years ago, Luffy was able to turn himself into a sea king almost identical to the one near Windmill Village. As an animal himself, Luffy was able to talk to the large sea monster and was able to befriend it, as well as most of the animals near or on the island where he grew up.

"Heh," Luffy chuckled before loudly announcing to the heavens, "I'LL BECOME THE PIRATE KING!"

Little did Luffy or anyone in the world at the time know that this one small act would lead to world changing events and life changing adventures! This is the story of "Straw-Hat" Luffy!

**AN:** Hey there! This is mellra just giving the standard author's note. I've been a frequent user to this site for the past year or so, and I thought I'ld give writing a shot. Now while I have many great ideas on stories, I lack certain writing skills like writing dialogue, so that's why I plan to keep as close to canon as possible with a few plot twists along the way. Now, while I may never officially 'abandon' this story, school and life as well as previously mentioned lack of writing skills will mean that the story updates may be infrequent. If someone would like to take this idea from me, please let me know and I would gladly give my consent and advice on what I had planned for latter chapters. Now I've noticed on this site that having Luffy as a Zoan user is a rarely done idea, and the ones that are out there aren't very good. I would like to thank Durphey21 who not only wrote a Zoan!Luffy story at my request, but also posted my challenge up on his user page for me. I would also like to encourage any aspiring One Piece fanfiction writers out there to try writing a Zoan!Luffy story of their own. Hope you all enjoy and please let me know what you think in Reviews and PMs. Till next time!

**AN2: **Went back and edited some of the story errors that were pointed out to me. Thanks so much to the people who have already favorited and reviewed this story and I hope you all continue to do so. Some things I forgot to mention about Luffy: Luffy in this story is sort of modeled after Beast Boy from Teen Titans and Young Justice, minus the green and being a vegetarian, as well as Crocidile Dundee, hence the Bowie Knife. Not only does it give Luffy more options in battle, but I can see Luffy using a large knife more than a sword like some fics have him using. He can also understand and speak to animals, thought the latter is only when he transforms into an animal himself. Luffy also has Haki to an extent, though he doesn't realise it. The way I figure it, Haki's 85 percent instincts and Luffy, being able to transform into any animal in the world, has higher insticts than normal, even more so than in canon. He can use the observational Haki as well as the Haki of the Supreme King at this point, but he isn't aware of either at this time. Luffy's Chimera form is based off the standard image of the legendary chimera, combining a lion, a ram, a dragon, and a snake all into one being. There are still a few suprises that Luffy's Devil's Fruit has, but they won't be seen till later. Again, please review and let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the anime/manga/movies/etc. that I write about; otherwise I would be a millionaire NOT writing on fanfiction publishing my own ideas.

**Chapter 2**

It has been a few days after Luffy set sail to start his life as a pirate. Currently we find him lying back in his small skiff enjoying the calm weather. He looks completely unconcerned despite the fact that he is currently heading straight towards a gigantic whirlpool!

"Heh, who would've thought I would get into such a huge disaster?! How careless of me!" Luffy stated with a large, slightly idiotic smile on his face, "I could transform into something that could swim or fly, but I honestly don't think that swimming would help me in this situation, and I have no idea where the nearest island is, so flying's out!" He said while bopping his fist into his other hand in an 'Ah-ha' moment. He was so caught up in his musings that he didn't even noticed that he was already being sucked into the whirlpool.

**Scene Break**

On a remote island we see a ship docked near land. What is strange is that the ship has a swan-head mast and is decorated in more hearts than a Valentine's Day card. On top of the ship flew a Jolly Roger, also decorated in hearts. This was a pirate ship, owned by the feared "Iron-Mace" Alvida, the self-proclaimed most beautiful in all the seas. The woman herself looked like the byproduct of an inbred redneck relationship with morbid obesity running in the family. The grotesque woman was also wearing cowgirl-style clothing and had a huge spiked iron mace strung casually over her shoulder. This abomination to self-respecting women everywhere was currently checking her ship for dust and, unsatisfied with the results, brutally beat the man in charge of cleaning over the head with her mace.

"Coby! What's the most beautiful thing in all the seas?" the sea cow called out.

"W…w…why you of course Lady Alvida," stammered a small, glasses wearing boy with pink hair. It was quiet obvious that the boy was expected to lie through his teeth to the woman when asked this question out of fear for his life. This fact was cemented when the hag started to kick the small boy while reminding him how she hated dirty things and that the only reason he was alive was because she valued his navigation skills. After she was done with the beating, Alvida ordered Coby to clean the ship. "O…of course Lady Alvida, I'm on my way!" Coby said nervously.

Later we find Coby rolling a large wine barrel to the storehouses for the "Iron-Mace" pirates. The other crewmen there decided to drink the contents, confident that Alvida wouldn't know, and after not-so-subtly threatening Coby not to tell anyone, proceeded to pry the barrel open. Suddenly, the top of the barrel burst open and out popped Luffy like a Jack-in-the-box, much to the shock of Coby and the "Iron-Mace" pirates.

"Ah, what a nice nap that was! Looks like I'm saved, I seriously thought I was going to die too!" exclaimed the straw hat wearing boy before he started to laugh like he didn't have a care in the world. He then took notice of his slack-jawed audience. "Hm? Who are you?" Luffy asked.

"WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?!" came the incredulous reply from the other pirates. One of them further elaborated, "Why would someone come out of a wine barrel?!"

Suddenly, an iron mace came spinning through the room (I'll give you 3 guesses on who threw it, the first 2 don't count) with a yell of, "STOP SLACKING OFF!" ringing through the building. The store house was immediately flattened to reveal the knocked-out forms of the pirates, with Luffy (barrel and all) went rolling into the jungle, with Coby following close behind. After Alvida showed up the pirates quickly jumped to the wrong conclusion thinking that Luffy was a bounty hunter after Alvida's head that Coby brought. Meanwhile, Coby had finally caught up to the straw hat boy and asked if he was alright. After assuring the pink haired boy that he was fine they gave brief introductions to each other. Luffy then asked Coby if he had a boat, seeing as his was lost in a whirlpool. The glasses wearing cabin boy then showed Luffy one of the most pathetic excuses for a boat that has ever graced God's green Earth. What made it even sadder was the fact that Coby had spent the last 2 years working on the piece of rubbish in order to escape Alvida's fat grip. Coby then explained how he wanted to be free of Alvida after she took him prisoner one day as he was fishing, and he's been too scared to try and leave since.

Luffy, being the happy-go-lucky kind of guy he is tried to cheer him up by saying, "You're pretty stupid and useless. You also seem kind of wimpy, I don't like you." Hey, that's Luffy for you, what'd you expect? Coby asked the pirate king in the making why he was sailing to which he boldly pronounced, "I want to become the Pirate King!"

Coby then started spouting how crazy, impossible, and suicidal that dream was and was promptly punched in the forehead by Luffy. Luffy said, "I'm not afraid of dying. Because it's my dream, and I wouldn't mind dying for it. Besides, I think I can do it, although it'll be pretty tough."

Inspired by the older boy's declaration, a now crying Coby asked, "Will I be…able to accomplish my dream…if I'm willing to die?" Coby said with increasing determination, "Will I be…able to become a marine? Luffy! I know it will mean becoming enemies, but joining the marines and catching bad guys has always been my dream! Do you think I could do it?!" "I wouldn't know," came Luffy's honest answer. "I have to at least try!" declared Coby, "I'd rather die trying to escape from here and join the marines, than spend the rest of my life as a cabin boy! And then I'll be able to arrest people like Alvida!"

Suddenly, Alvida appeared crushing Coby's boat with her iron mace saying, "Who did you say you were going to arrest Coby!? Did you honestly think that you could escape from me?!" She then turned to look at Luffy, "Is that who you hired to capture me? He sure doesn't look like Roronoa Zoro! Anyway, before you die I want to ask you, what is the most beautiful thing in the sea, Coby?!"

Before the glasses wearing boy could answer Luffy decided to open his big mouth and ask, "Hey Coby, who's the fat lady?" Much to the shock and horror of the surrounding pirates.

"Luffy! Quick, say 'Lady Alvida is the most…" Coby then thought of the life-changing commitment he made not three minutes ago and, gathering his courage, shouted out, "THE UGLIEST, FATTEST HAG ON THE ENTIRE PLANET!" To which Luffy laughed and the other pirates looked like they were about to have a stroke.

"NOW YOU BOTH CAN DIE!" screamed Alvida as she swung her iron mace on the two boys. However, to the complete shock of all those present, Luffy calmly walked forward and caught the mace with his bare hand like it weighed nothing at all. "WHAT?! Impossible!" Alvida cried in shock.

"Sorry, but this things too light to hurt me," said Luffy as his body started to shift. Before the stunned pirates' eyes, Luffy shifted into his Chimera form, which was a good deal taller than it was when he was a kid, standing at nearly eight feet tall and it now had two bat-like wings jutting from the shoulder blades.

"W…WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU!?" exclaimed a shocked Alvida as she hurriedly tried to back away from the hulking monster in front of her. It was too late as Luffy reared back his large, scaled fist and shouted, "**Chimera Pistol!**" and smashing his fist into the pirate captain's face, sending the sea cow flying back unconscious into her surrounding crew.

Luffy smiled showing the crew a mouth full of razor sharp teeth in his lion like head and said in a more growling voice, "Prepare a boat for Coby! He wants to join the marines, so stay out of his way!"

**Scene Break**

"You actually ate the Chimera Fruit? That's amazing!" said Coby as he and Luffy set sail on a small skiff, courtesy of the "Iron-Mace" Pirates. After getting over his initial shock, Coby started to bombard Luffy with questions from his powers to what he plans to do in order to become the pirate king. To the pink haired boy's surprise, he found that their current destination was to recruit the famous pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro from the next town where Coby plans to sign up for the marines. Coby started rapidly telling Luffy why that would be a bad idea, but Luffy just simply laughed it off as they sailed into the horizon.

**AN: **Here we are on another exciting chapter of "Chimera Luffy"! I'm actually surprised on how popular this is becoming, and I hope that you all continue to enjoy! Now I need my readers' help, could you please tell me what animals you would like to see Luffy turn into and for which opponent? I only used his Chimera form against Alvida to show some of the changes he had over the years and I thought it'd be a waste of thinking to come up with an elaborate fight scene for a third rate villain like Alvida. You'll notice that I didn't change much from canon, because honestly I'm trying to keep as close to canon as possible so I don't suffer from writer's block like so many other, more original, authors do. For those of you wondering, Luffy was able to stop Alvida's attack because he channeled his strength to his arms and reinforced it by starting the transformation in them first, making him about as strong as when he uses Gear 2 in canon. Again, please review and feel free to post your ideas for this fic because, like I said last chapter, I'm not much of a writer so new ideas would be appreciated. Also, if anyone feels like adopting this fic please let me know and I'll give you my full blessing and wish you luck. Till next chapter everyone!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the anime/manga/movies/etc. that I write about; otherwise I would be a millionaire NOT writing on fanfiction publishing my own ideas.

**Chapter 3**

In a galaxy far, far away…oops, my bad. On a small boat somewhere in the East Blue, we find Luffy and Coby a few days after the Alvida incident sailing towards the topic of the two boys' conversation: one infamous pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro. Coby was fervently telling Luffy why it would be a bad idea to recruit the swordsman due to his reputation as a 'monster' and 'blood-thirsty hound', but Luffy decided to see him first before deciding whether or not to have the hunter join his crew, much to Coby's dismay. Shortly afterwards the duo find themselves on an island with the local marine base in the center of town. Luffy congratulated Coby on finding land so fast while the former cabin-boy tried to explain to the future Pirate King that he needed to understand the basics of navigation, or at least find a navigator, if he planned to sail the seas. Luffy's response was to completely ignore him and look for food (as we soon discover is pretty much habitual of Luffy).

After a quick (by Luffy's standards) meal at a local inn, Luffy and Coby prepare to part ways when Luffy again brings up searching for Zoro. The response from the other customers at the inn was simultaneous as they all suddenly jumped up, ran to the other side of the room, and stared at Luffy and Coby like they had the plague. Coby, trying to change the subject, mentioned to Luffy how he noticed that the marine base was ran by a captain named Morgan. It was by some strange workings in the universe that each and every one of the inns patrons jumped into the air, flipping tables and sending tableware flying everywhere while striking poses like a model having a stroke. After observing the odd (to say the least) behavior of the townsfolk, Luffy and Coby paid their bill and quickly exited the inn while discussing what the heck just happened. Luffy seemed to be under the impression that Cpt. Morgan (mmm…rum) was not liked by the townsfolk while Coby, in his slightly delusional state of mind, seemed to think that it was impossible for a marine to do wrong.

After walking a ways the chimera boy and the hopeful marine made it to the front of the base which just screamed "DO NOT ENTER". Luffy quickly climbed to the top of the surrounding wall while looking for Zoro. In the middle of the courtyard hung a figure on a cross with his arms bound by rope. The figure revealed to by a man only a few years older than Luffy with a black bandana on top of his short, curiously green colored, hair. The man had on a plain white tee shirt and black pants on with a sash wrapped around his waist. The man had a look on his face that said 'annoy me and I'll kill you before you can blink.' Coby, after much freaking out, identified the man as Roronoa Zoro.

Zoro spotted the two and tried to talk them into untying him. Luffy, of course, was all for it while Coby, also of course, was highly against it. The argument between the two was interrupted when a ladder suddenly was placed on the wall near both boys and a small girl climbed up while making shushing sounds to the duo. The girl quickly ran up to Zoro and offered him two rice balls which Zorro denied stating he wasn't hungry, even though it had been weeks since his last meal, and tried to get the girl to leave.

Suddenly one of the gates opened to reveal a boy around Coby's age with the face of a pug with a helmet-shaped haircut and dressed in a suit that made him look like a pimp. The boy was flanked by several marines and was revealed to be Cpt. Morgan's son, Helmeppo. After berating Zoro for 'picking on little kids,' Helmeppo saw the food the girl was offering Zoro. "Look, here are some tasty rice balls." Helmeppo then snatched up one of the rice balls and took a bite before spitting it out and telling the girl off for having put sugar in the place of salt, before grabbing the other rice ball and stomping it into the ground.

The girls started tearing up over her now crushed rice balls, but immediately froze when Helmeppo stated the law that Morgan had placed, being that any who aid criminals will be executed. The spoiled brat then turned to one of the marines and ordered him to throw the girl over the fence and threatened to tell his father if the marine didn't comply. The man walked over to the girl and apologized before suggesting that she curl up into a ball to prevent too much damage. Luffy quickly caught the falling girl as she was thrown out of the base. The bowel cut teen congratulated Zoro on his endurance and reminded him of their deal where he had to stay tied up with no food for one month and he would then be a free man. When the boy left, Zoro looked up to see Luffy standing in front of him, "So, I hear you're a bad guy."

"Didn't I tell you to get lost?" Zoro said in a voice that would make most men run for the hills.

"You're out here in the open with what to show for it, are you really as strong as people say?" Luffy continued to question the pirate hunter.

"What's that got to do with you anyways?" asked an annoyed Zoro.

"You know, if that were me, I'd have probably starved by now." Luffy was grinning by now.

"Well I have way more fortitude than you ever have, which exactly why I'm not going to die." The pirate hunter smirked and watched as Luffy turned to leave before calling out, "Wait up. That rice ball, would you pick it up for me?" Luffy bent down and pick up the crush rice ball and commented that it was little more than a ball of mud, "Just shut up and give it to me!" Zoro spat out before swallowing what was left of the rice ball with a look that made it seem like he would barf and said, "Would you tell that little girl, 'the rice ball was delicious'." Much to Luffy's amusement and pleasure, since he had just found the perfect first mate.

Luffy left the square and returned to Coby and the little girl, whose name was Rika, and then retold to them exactly what Zoro had said. Coby started to wonder whether Zoro was actually a bad guy, only to be berated by Rika who then explained the reason that Zoro was tied up, being that he had sacrificed himself for the sake of Rika and her mother by killing Helmeppo's pet wolf that the boy let run loose and almost killed the girl.

When Rika had finished recounting how Zoro ended up tied to the stake, a crash was heard from the street behind them. Turning around to see what had caused the ruckus, Luffy, Coby and Rika saw the one known as Helmeppo, the captain's son, cockily strutting down the street and having all the townspeople bow to him on threat of telling his father. The helmet haired boy then started spouting of his gripes of boredom, even suggesting that to help clear that boredom he could execute Zoro.

Hearing the Captain's son speak of potentially killing Zoro, Luffy walked over to the boy and spoke to him, "Did I hear you were going to execute that pirate hunter in the crucifixion yard?" Helmeppo laughed and, puffing out his cheeks in a mocking manner, then stated that he never had any plans to do otherwise, and before he could finish his sentence beyond that, Luffy backhanded him like the pimp the other boy dressed as, much to the shock of the crowd.

Helmeppo pulled himself up with the help of his guards crying out in pain, "You… You hit me!?" Helmeppo screamed while holding his face, but pulled himself together enough to blurt out, "My father is Captain Morgan."

Luffy's glare hardened, "Like I care. If you want to fight, fight me yourself!"

The boy scampered away and called out before leaving, "You'll care when he executes you!"

Luffy then declared that he would make Zorro his crewmate before storming off to the marine base with Coby in tow. Back at the crucifixion yard, Zoro was startled awake by the sudden presence of Luffy, "Oh, it's you again. What are you doing here this time?"

Luffy looked at the pirate hunter and grinned, "I figure I'll get you out of those bindings and then you can join my pirate crew. I'm currently looking for members to join me."

Zoro scoffed at the proposition, "Forget it, I'll never stoop that low to join with a criminal."

Luffy looked at the man with a bemused expression, "But you're already known as a blood thirsty demon of a bounty hunter, aren't you?"

"Who cares what they think, the point is that I have never once done anything that I regret. I will survive these next ten days, after that I'll do what I set out to achieve."

Luffy's expression became completely blank for only a few moments, and only changed when Luffy up and declared that Zoro would be a part of his crew, despite Zoro's obvious complaints. "I've heard you could be the best swordsman in these parts."

Zoro's complaints died, "Well yeah, but that idiot captain's son took my swords away, and he's keeping them in that base over there."

Luffy looked at the base in question and turned back to Zoro, "I can go and get them for you, but if I do then you'll have to join my crew." And to this, Zoro exclaimed his annoyance once more with the young captain's disregard for his refusal, while Luffy simply laughed and sped off to the main building.

Meanwhile, on top of said building, a group of marines was lifting up a giant statue of Cpt. "Axe-Hand" Morgan while Helmeppo was trying to convince the man himself to go after Luffy for hitting him. He had little success on the matter, because as it turns out the only reason Morgan never hit his son was because he was too worthless to hit, which he exclaimed as he punched Helmeppo square in the face. Morgan was revealed to be a tall muscular man with metal plating covering his lower jaw and a huge axe attached to where his right arm should be (hmm, large statue + large weapon = overcompensating much?) and had a marine jacket covering most of his body. He is shown to be incredibly cruel and narcissistic when, after he attacks a marine for refusing to execute Rika, he boasts on how his rank makes him the most powerful one on the island and the statue would help symbolize that fact.

Meanwhile, Luffy found himself to be incredibly lost before he noticed noises coming from the top of the marine base. Thinking there was someone there who he could ask for directions, Luffy took on a look of concentration. Suddenly, his legs morphed into the legs of a cricket and, backing up a little bit, gave a cry of "**Cricket Hopper!**" jumped high enough that he reached the roof of the building. Unfortunately, Luffy underestimated his jump and started to go over the building. Fortunately, there was a large eyesore, I mean statue, that he was able to grab onto to stop his ascent. This caused the symbol of vanity to topple over and shatter to a thousand pieces, much to Morgan's horror and everyone else's shock.

"S…sorry," came Luffy's weak apology.

"**CAPTURE HIM! I'M GONNA KILL HIM!**" screamed the Captain, with the marines hurriedly complying. Before the marines could grab him, Luffy grabbed Helmeppo and dragged him off to find Zoro's swords. The marines were about to give chase when they noticed Coby in the courtyard trying to free Zorro from his bonds, which Morgan quickly ordered them to be executed.

Down in the courtyard Zoro was trying to tell Coby to run away but he replied, "You shouldn't be arrested! I can't stand those kinds of marines, that's why I'm going to become a real marine. Just like Luffy is determined to become the Pirate King!" much to Zoro's shock. Suddenly, a bullet grazed Coby's shoulder as it was shot from the base's tower.

Meanwhile, Luffy was dragging Helmeppo through the base by his neck while demanding to know where Zoro's swords are. Helmeppo finally gasped out they were in his room and directed Luffy to it. Back at the courtyard Zorro tried getting the injured Coby to run away, but Coby refused and told Zoro about his planned execution, stating the marines never intended on freeing him. Suddenly they were surrounded by marines with their rifles pointed at them and ordering them not to move. It was at that moment Luffy discovered Zoro's katana and noticed the commotion outside. It looked like this was the end for Zoro and Coby as Morgan ordered his men to fire. Zorro thought that he couldn't die here and remembered his promise to Kuina, his deceased childhood friend and rival, to become the best swordsman in the world. Just as the marines opened fire, Luffy appeared before Zoro and Coby, knife drawn, deflecting the bullets with ease. Everyone stared at the straw-hat wearing boy in shock as he batted the bullets aside like one would swat at insects.

Zoro was wide eyed by the show of seemingly impossible bladework, "What the… who are you?" Luffy turned to face Zoro, his grin never having left his face, "My name is Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm going to be 'King of the Pirates'." Zoro scoffed at the idea, but Coby piped up in defence of Luffy's dream stating that he didn't believe at first either but Luffy's complete determination was what convinced him. On Luffy's back were three swords, he took them off and presented them to Zoro, "You know I found all of these in the same place but I couldn't tell which was yours so I took them all."

"They're all mine, I use a style called Santouryu, and it uses three swords." Zoro said calmly while struggling in his bindings. Luffy pushed the swords towards again and reiterated, "Look just take them, but just remember that if you do then you'll have defied the government and will be a criminal. I mean, you could choose to just stay there and be executed as well if you want." Zoro smirked, "You're a jerk you know that, because I either choose to side with you or I die here on these sticks. So let's do this."

Luffy started pulling on the ropes but Zorro just told him to place one of the katana in his mouth. Placing one of the swords in Zoro's mouth, Luffy stood back and watched as in moments, the swords man freed himself, drew all of his swords and then proceeded to block a group of eight marines as they all attempted to attack at the same time.

"Move an inch, and I'll cut you down." Zoro glared at the marines despite his back being to them. Looking up, Zoro addressed Luffy, "Alright, since I'm now a criminal for having fought the marines, so I'll become a pirate, but I'll be out to accomplish my goal and you are never to forget that." Luffy asked what his goal was and Zoro just smirked, "To be nothing less than the greatest swordsman this world has to offer. So if I have to give that up along the way, I'll cut you down before making you apologies to me."

"The world's greatest swordsman, heh, sounds nice and the 'King of the Pirates' would have nothing less than the best on his crew." Luffy grinned at the response that Zoro gave.

"From this point onward, criminal or not, my name will be known throughout the world." Zoro's last statement was then followed by Morgan's demanding that the marines kill the three people in the yard, being Luffy, Zoro and Coby.

Luffy grinned at this and said, "Let's get wild!" Before the marines or his two companions could blink, Luffy sped off towards the marines with his body starting to shift. Where once stood a young teen now ran a large, humanoid cat with black spots. Luffy had turned into a cheetah-man. The people in the courtyard heard a cry of "**Cheetah Barrage!**" In seconds the marines found themselves on the ground with either the wind knocked out of them or completely out cold with lumps on the back of their heads. The only marine left standing was Morgan as he observed the scene with wide eyes. Luffy suddenly appeared between the captain and his friends, shrinking down into his human form.

A gaping Zoro managed to sputter, "W…What the heck are you!?" To which Luffy happily replied, "I'm a Chimera man!"

The recent displays of strength made the still conscious marines question their ability to overcome the two pirates. Morgan's expression darkened and he immediately order every marine who 'spouted out weakness' to shoot themselves in the head. Zoro braced himself for a fight, but Luffy dashed forward, through the marines, and slashed at Morgan himself with his knife, only to be blocked by the giant axe head that was in place of his right hand.

"You pathetic and reckless punks, how dare you defy me?! I am the marine captain, Axe-Hand Morgan!" As he said this, Morgan took off his captain's coat.

"Hi, my name's Luffy," Luffy stood, completely unaffected by Morgan's attempt at intimidation.

When Luffy had finished talking, Morgan rushed the teen with a sideways swipe which Luffy easiy jumped over. Turning around to face his opponent, Morgan then brought his 'Axe-Hand' down which split the earth but once more, Luffy had leapt safely into the air. While airborne, Luffy sheathed his blade and suddenly shifted his legs to that of a mule and with a cry of "**Donkey Drop-Kick!"** kicked Morgan strait in the face, knocking the captain of his feet.

Getting back onto his feet, Morgan saw that Luffy was running towards him again, and lifted his Axe-Hand into air once more to bring down on the teen pirate bellowing out a cry for the teen's death. To the shock and surprise of everyone present, Luffy's lower body shifted into a snake's tail and he twisted out of Morgan's attack and belting the marine with his tail back down onto his back. Luffy shifted back to normal and walked over to the downed man, lifted him by the scruff of his shirt, and started to punch him over and over for having ruined Coby's dream by soiling the name of the marines.

"Hold it 'Straw Hat', look at what I've got!" Helmeppo's shrill voice cut over the sounds of Luffy's punching. When he realised that he wasn't getting the result he had originally desired he continued calling out. Helmeppo was currently holding a gun to Coby's head and his limbs were all shaking with nerves. Eventually Luffy stopped punching the marine captain and looked over at Helmeppo and Coby, and then Coby called out and told Luffy not to worry, even if he should have died.

"Of course, so what will you do now, Helmet Head." Luffy was grinning as he walked away from Morgan's prone body and then shifting back into his hybrid cheetah form, grinning a Cheshire cat smile. As he was walking away, Morgan rose from the ground and attempted to cut down the teen pirate captain one more time. Zoro noticed Morgan's movement and readied his swords before moving close enough to help Luffy should it be necessary.

"**Cheetah Blitz**" Luffy said under his breath, and moments later, Helmeppo's head snapped back and he then collapsed on the ground, completely unconscious with Luffy standing where the brat once stood. Behind Luffy, Morgan wasn't in much better shape as he fell back completely unconscious from Zoro's attack. Luffy became human again before he turned to the swordsman and thanked him, only to be told by Zoro, that he was just, 'Doing his job'.

Luffy and Zoro turned to the marines and put out a challenge to what had just happened. The two pirates were surprised when the marines then tossed their hats, guns and swords into the air while spouting off that they were free from the corrupt captain. Later, both Zoro and Luffy were enjoying a lunch in the bar that the Rika's mother worked in and Zoro started to question his captain, "So Luffy, you said that you were looking for crew members; how many do you have so far?" Still with food in his mouth, Luffy just pointed at Zoro who gawked at the prospect, "Then please tell me you at least have a ship." At this, the Chimera boy pointed to the docks that could be seen from the window and one of the dinghies there.

"Don't worry so much about the ship for the moment, with just the two of us that will be perfect, for now." Luffy attempted to calm the swordsman from stressing out. "We may not have much now, but things will work out to our favour in the end, we just need to be patient."

Rika asked Luffy where they would be going when they left town, "Well I figure that we'll just sail around until we pick up a navigator and a bigger ship before heading to the Grand Line."

Hearing this Coby started to freak out and worry over his new friends, even though they would be parting ways from here. He tried telling the two about how dangerous the Grand Line is but Luffy just waved it off saying they'd be fine. Zorro then pointed out to Coby to be careful that the marines never find out about his time on Alvida's ship because he would be considered a pirate and would never be allowed in the marines if that happened. As the people conversed within the bar, the marines started gathering at the door and a lieutenant entered the room. "I've heard that the two of you are pirates, is that true?" getting a nod of assent, the marines ordered that the two of them leave town immediately, even though they were happy for the assist with Morgan.

Zoro and Luffy just smirked and started to leave, when the lieutenant asked whether Coby was with them Luffy started to tell them about how Coby had been Alvida's cabin boy for two years, causing the pink haired boy to strike Luffy in the face. Luffy in turn, then started punching Coby and was told to stop by the marines allowing Luffy to start smirking. At the docks Luffy and Zoro were both relishing in the very 'pirate' feel that was joined with their current departure of the town. When the just finished unfastening the boat, they heard Coby thank them, and turned to see the newest member of the marine alongside the mother and daughter of the small bar. Out at sea, both Zoro and Luffy were relaxing and Luffy told Zoro to get comfortable since they were just heading where the wind took them for the moment and he was grinning widely at the future prospects for adventure!

**AN:** Hey there, sorry for the long wait, school's been a female dog and I decided to write the entire Zorro arc in one chapter instead of many little ones. I want to thank everyone who's following me so far and, rest assured, I hope to update at least once a month schedule permitting. Now you know what Luffy's knife is for! I decided that because he isn't made of rubber in my fic he'll need a good defense to bullets and such, so I decided that with his observational haki (which I previously mentioned he partially awakened thanks to his stronger, animal instincts), along with his animal reflexes and his blade allow him to predict and deflect the bullets fired at him with ease. I got something in mind for how he'll reflect cannon balls but I'm open for suggestions. One unique aspect of the Chimera-Chimera fruit is that the user can transform parts of his/her body into different animal parts at will, instead of needing to fully transform all the time. As you can tell, Luffy's cheetah form is his go to for speed (roughly Gear 2 speed) while his snake form is for dodging, etc. As always this is free to adopt for all who're interested and PM me if you have any questions. Please read and review and I'll see you next time!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the anime/manga/movies/etc. that I write about; otherwise I would be a millionaire NOT writing on fanfiction publishing my own ideas.

**Chapter 4**

We find Luffy with his first and so far only crewmate Zorro on their dingy a few days after the Morgan incident planning their next move. "Ugh, so hungry," moaned Luffy. Well, planning in the terms of two knuckleheads that is. Zorro started to berate Luffy for his lack of navigation skills (hypocritical much?) while Luffy just said he was just wandering and asked Zorro if that was what he did as a pirate hunter. As it turns out Zorro had left his home to find a certain man and had gotten lost, so the pirate hunting was just to pay for his travels (again, hypocritical much?). This led to a brief argument between captain and crewmember before both collapsed on the floor of the boat with growling stomachs. They suddenly saw the shape of a bird fly overhead in the distance and Luffy got a clever (for him) idea on catching the bird to eat.

Spreading out his arms which started to sprout feathers, Luffy suddenly turned into a full blown red-tailed hawk and flew up to the bird. The problem was that the bird was a _lot_ bigger up close and was able to snag the smaller bird boy up in its beak and started to fly off. Luffy quickly changed back into his human form but found his head still caught in the bird's beak. Normally someone with Luffy's powers would just transform into something too big for the bird to eat, but since Luffy is kind of a moron and also still wanted to catch the bird to eat that thought did not cross his mind. Zorro in a panic started frantically rowing after his bird-jacked captain. Soon Luffy found himself being carried to an island with a bizarre, circus-themed ship docked at the harbor when suddenly a cannon ball was fired, hitting the bird who was carrying him and caused him to crash into the town below.

Unknown to Luffy he just crashed next to a trio of pirates who were chasing an attractive girl around Luffy's age with orange-red hair and wore a tee shirt with a short skirt. The reason for the chase was that the young woman had stolen a map from the pirates that led to the Grand Line, and the pirates had to return it before their captain found out and killed them. As Luffy pulled himself up from the small crater his fall created and was wondering where the heck he was, the young girl suddenly started calling him boss and said she'd 'leave the rest to him' before running off. Luffy was trying to figure out what was going on, completely oblivious to the three pirates coming up behind him. Five seconds later the three thugs found themselves with their faces planted in the ground courtesy of Luffy when one of said thugs knocked off his straw hat with a punch.

Luffy turned and saw the girl from earlier sitting on the roof of a nearby building who introduced herself as Nami and was a thief who stole from pirates. She then asked if the pirate captain wanted to partner up with her. To which Luffy flatly refused before walking away. Nami quickly jumped off the roof she was on and followed the young captain asking him about why he got so mad at the pirates for touching his hat to which Luffy replied, "It's my treasure!"

Nami took Luffy into one of the nearby deserted houses while Luffy told the pirate thief on how he was separated from his crew. Name in turn told Luffy on how all the houses were abandoned thanks to the town being overrun by pirates led by the fierce pirate captain Buggy the Clown. She explained on how Buggy was a canon-happy maniac who once destroyed a town due to some local children making fun of his nose, and how it's said that he has Devil Fruit abilities. Luffy then asked Nami if she would rob the empty town to which she flatly replied no, saying she only stole from pirates and hoped to gain a hundred million Beri in order to buy a certain village. She then explained how she would use the map she stole from the Buggy Pirates in order to find the Grand Line and get the money from pirates there. Nami then repeated her offer on the two partnering together in order to gain Buggy's treasure.

Luffy, using his head for once, asked the red-head if she knew about navigation to which she replied, "Of course I know! Don't look down on me because as for navigation skills, well, there aren't a lot of people who know more about it then I do. Especially since I love the sea."

Luffy gave a whoop of joy and told Nami that his crew was heading to the Grand Line and asked her if she would join his pirate crew (idiot). To which Nami got a dark look on her face and said there was no way that she would join up with pirates. She then asked if his hat contained a map to his treasure and Luffy explained on how the hat was a gift from a friend that symbolized his promise to become a great pirate captain with the best crew on the ocean. Nami then told Luffy flatly that she hated pirates and the only thing she loved was money and tangerines. Luffy then asked again if she would join his crew to which Nami was again about to reject but then gave a mischievous smirk. Nami then told the chimera captain that she would join his crew, on the condition that he went with her to where Buggy is. Luffy, being none the wiser, quickly agreed and started to walk off, not noticing Nami grabbing a long rope and sneaking up behind him.

**Scene Break**

Buggy the Clown was a man in his mid-thirties and wore a colorful orange-striped shirt with an elaborate captain's hat that had tassels on it over his bluish hair, as well as a large red cape strung over his shoulders. He had cross bones tattooed on his face and red lipstick on giving him the appearance of a clown dressed as a pirate, but his most distinguishing feature was the red bulbous nose on his face that made him look even more clown like. He was about to execute the three pirates that failed to capture Nami when another of his crewmembers came up to him and informed him that the map thief had returned on her own. Nami then walked in with a hog-tied Luffy and proceeded to tell the clown captain that she was tired of working for Luffy and was wanting to join the Buggy Pirates, to which everyone present stared at her in wide eyed disbelief before the circus-themed pirates broke down in laughter before throwing Luffy, still hogtied, in a cage and welcomed there newest crewmate with an elaborate party.

Everyone, minus Luffy, seemed to be having a great time. Nami was drinking her new 'crewmates' under the table while having a mischievous grin on her face, thinking she'd be able to rob the Buggy Pirates blind when they all fall into a drunken slumber. Meanwhile, our favorite pirate captain who doesn't have a ridiculous large red nose (author dodges cannonball fired at by Buggy), was trying to bite his way through the bars. One would wonder why Luffy didn't just change into a smaller animal like a mouse to escape. Well, it could be that he didn't want to reveal his abilities to a room full of enemy pirates that could easily kill him while he's vulnerable, or the more likely scenario is that the thought never even crossed his mind. As Luffy was running up his future dentist bill, Nami walked over and playfully asked her 'captain' how he was doing. Luffy had a few choice words to say to the red-head, involving yelling at her to get him out and asking if she could bring him some food since he was still hungry.

Nami brought the boy a mouthful of food which he quickly devoured, and Luffy's mood instantly shifted to cheerful and asked the girl if she'd become their navigator again. After heatedly denying that offer, Nami told the chimera captain that if all went well she might free him after she stole the other pirate's treasure. Suddenly, Buggy stood up and announced it was time to punish Luffy for his part in stealing the map. After asking Luffy if he had any last requests to which Luffy asked to be let go (got shot down in record time), the clown captain ordered his men to prepare the 'Special Buggy Ball'. The crew brought forth a cannon and a strange red cannon ball with the ship's Jolly Roger painted on the front. Buggy decided to give his captive and new crewmate a demonstration of his power and had the now loaded cannon aimed at a row of nearby houses. As soon as the cannon was fired, the entire row of houses was reduced to a smoldering pile of splinters.

Satisfied that he had his 'audiences' attention, Buggy aimed the cannon at the still captured Luffy and ordered Nami to light the fuse to prove her loyalty by blowing away her old boss. Nami tried to look for a way out of her current predicament because; while she hated pirates and was a thief she was no murderer. Seeing the girl's dilemma, Luffy told the cat burglar that she made an oath and now she had to find the courage to stand by it. Before Nami could think on what she should do the matchbox was yanked out of her hands by a member of the crew who was becoming impatient with her lack of action and moved to light the match himself. Before the fire touched the fuse of the cannon, Nami pulled out a collapsible staff and smashed the pirate in the face before she could contemplate the consequences of her actions.

As the Buggy Pirates stared in shock and anger Nami declared that she'd never stoop to a pirate's level and said that a pirate took someone precious from her. Luffy commented on how that's why she didn't like pirates. The young captain then noticed that the fuse on the cannon pointed at his cage was lit and proceeded to bite at the bars with a greater ferocity. As the fuse got smaller Buggy ordered his men to kill the backstabbing thief, to which they circus-themed crew immediately rushed over to do. Nami tried keeping the attacking pirates at bay with a swing of her staff, but the pirates used acrobatic moves to dodge the strike. Nami noticed the almost completely burnt fuse and ran over, grabbing it with her bare hands in hopes of stopping the cannon from firing. Then four pirates tried to jump her unprotected back but a figure suddenly appeared and smashed the incoming pirates in the face with two of his sheathed swords asking them how many pirates it took to fight one girl. Luffy noticed who the stranger was and happily cried, "Zorro!"

As Nami and the Buggy Pirates realized that the newcomer was the infamous pirate hunter Zoro, the swordsman walked over to the cage his captain was locked in while berating him for being reckless. Buggy then appeared next to the green-haired pirate and asked if he was after his head but Zorro said his pirate hunting days were done. Buggy then declared that killing the recently turned pirate would make him even more famous and proceeded to charge at him with knives. Zorro proceeded to cut the man into three pieces to the shock of Luffy and Nami and to the growing amusement of the Buggy Pirates. The circus crew members proceeded to chuckle darkly while the Straw Hat crew demanded the key before breaking out into laughter. Suddenly, Zorro stiffened as it was revealed that a knife was lodged into is back by a floating hand! The pieces of Buggy started to float into the air and smugly told the shocked teens that he ate the Chop-Chop Fruit, so no matter how much he's sliced to pieces he can't be killed.

Just as Buggy moved to finish off the downed swordsman, Luffy said a taboo, "Stabbing someone in the back is dirty, you BIG NOSED creep!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING BIG NOSED?!" screamed Buggy as he shot his hand holding a knife strait into Luffy's face. To the shock of all those present, Luffy was able to catch the knife with his teeth and broke the blade in half (elsewhere in the world, all the dentists out there gained a strange gleam in their eyes) and declared that he'd clobber the nose sensitive pirate.

Luffy then told Zorro to 'run away' and Zorro, understanding what his captain wanted, ran to the cannon while blocking Buggy's knives thrown his way and was able to flip the cannon so it pointed directly at the Buggy Pirates. Nami was then able to light the much shorter fuse and a portion of the roof they were on was blown away in the ensuing blast. Zorro ran over to Luffy's cage and was about to lift it up to carry him away when a thought suddenly struck him. "Hey Luffy," he asked with a steadily increasing twitch to his eyebrow, "couldn't you just turn into a smaller animal like a mouse to escape from there?" Luffy looked confused for a moment before gaining an 'ah-ha!' face while Zorro face palmed while muttering "Idiot!"

Luffy quickly shrunk down while gaining whiskers, rounded ears, and a tail before disappearing into the ropes that bound him. A mouse wearing a shrunken version of Luffy's outfit scurried out of the cage before shooting back up to human form. Luckily nobody but Zorro noticed the change as the roof was still covered from smoke due to the previous explosion. The two pirates grabbed their future navigator as she tried to see through the smoke and quickly bolted into the town. The trio stopped a few blocks away due to Zorro needing to rest his wounded body. They found themselves in front of a pet shop with a white dog with old battle wounds standing guard out front. Zorro sat down for a rest while Luffy was investigating the dog to see why it wasn't moving, only to get bit in the face after poking the dog in the eyes. Nami meanwhile was trying to figure out both why Zorro risked himself for Luffy (she thought all pirates were greedy and cowardly by nature and wouldn't hesitate to abandon a crewmate) and how Luffy was able to escape from his cage so easily.

Luffy was and the dog were wrestling on the ground when an elderly man with a poodle-like haircut wearing glasses and armor while carrying a spear came along and demanded the boy to stop pestering the dog, whose name turned out to be Chou-Chou. The old man introduced himself as Boodle, the mayor of the town they were in. After allowing Zorro to rest and recover from his injuries in home, the mayor proceeded to feed the guard dog and proceeded to explain why the dog was standing guard like that. Boodle explained that the store was opened 10 years ago by his friend who was Chou-Chou's owner; however the man passed away several months ago and the dog had been guarding the store ever since. Despite popular belief that the dog was waiting for his owner to return, the mayor claimed the Chou-Chou most likely knew his owner was dead and he was guarding the store because it was his owner's, and now his, treasure.

Suddenly, a terrifying roar went through the village! Panicked, Boodle exclaimed that is was Mohji the Animal Tamer and first mate of the Buggy Pirates. Nami and Boodle quickly hid behind a house down the street before noticing Luffy wasn't with them. They soon spotted the straw hat wearing boy standing where they were at moments ago with a confused look on his face. Before they could run back to grab him and or hit him over the head for his stupidity a man riding a large lion came into view. The man himself seemed to have white fur covering his chest and head that formed rounded ears on the top while wearing shoes with similar fur on them. The man stood directly in front of Luffy and introduced himself as Mohji the Animal Tamer before mocking the boy on how it looks like his friends abandoned him after their escape. Luffy simply commented that the man was wearing a weird hat, to which said man angrily pointed out was his hair (Luffy just said that was weirder to which the man told him to shut up).

Mohji tried to intimidate the boy by saying he could control all manner of animals and proceeded to try to get Chou-Chou to shake his hand only to receive a bite on the arm for his troubles. The man proceeded to demand that Luffy tells him where Zorro was and Luffy immediately said no way to. The lion, named Richie, jumped at the boy who swiftly dodged only to be smacked through several buildings by Richie's paw. Mohji was about to continue his hunt for Zorro when Richie went in the direction of the pet food store with Chou-Chou growling dangerously. With Luffy he quickly recovered from his ordeal having being hit worse by his Grandpa and proceeded to smile toothily while saying he'd clobber the animal trainer before asking Nami if she'd be their navigator again.

After meeting up with Nami and Boodle, who were both incredibly shocked to see he was largely unhurt after going through buildings via giant cat punch, the trio came upon a heart-wrenching sight. Chou-Chou the dog was giving mournful barks as the store he guarded burned, regardless of the fresh claw wounds on his white fur you could tell by the tears falling from the dog's eyes that it wasn't the physical pain that hurt so much. Luffy stared at the scene while remembering the old mayor's explanation on how the store was the dog's treasure with a dark shadow on his face.

Mohji was riding on top of Richie nursing a dog bite wound to the arm while the oversized lion munched on a battered box of pet food they stole from the store before setting it ablaze, receiving minor resistance from the little guard dog. As the duo continued their search for Zorro they came upon a startling sight, the straw hat wearing brat that Richie sent flying earlier was standing unhurt in their path. After getting over his initial shock, Mohji sent Richie to try and tear the boy's head off. Luffy, however, just smirked and said, "Let me show you how a _real_ lion fights!"

To both the lion and tamer's shock, the boy in front of them started to grow till he towered over Richie while growing a large mane of black fur as well as razor sharp teeth and claws. The now human-lion hybrid let off a terrifying roar that shattered a few nearby windows and grabbed the other lion under the front legs while lifting it up into the air. "**Lion Pile Driver!**" the chimera boy roared as he planted the still shocked Richie headfirst into the ground, knocking him unconscious. The now terrified animal tamer stuttered out, "W…what the heck are you, you freak?!" The now lion-like boy stalked over to where the petrified pirate was rooted to the spot while cracking his knuckles and explained, "Long ago I ate the Chimer-Chimera Fruit, now I'm an animal man!"

Mohji tried apologizing to the approaching lion-man and said he'd pay whatever he wanted. Luffy was having none of that and growled out, "I don't want your apology or your money, because that won't bring back Chou-Chou's treasure," he gained a dangerous glint in his cat-slit eyes and roared out, "I CAME BACK TO CLOBBER YOU!" With that he reared back his fist and punched Mohji straight in the face, sending the man into blissful unconsciousness with his pet.

Nami and Boodle stood watching over Chou-Chou as he stared at the smoldering remains of the pet store. Nami commented on how all pirates were the same and didn't care on who they hurt. She then noticed Luffy, back in human form, walking up and started to rant against him about how this was how pirates acted and how he was no different. The straw hat wearing captain ignored the girl and walked up in front of the dog, placing a battered box of pet food in front of him. The pirate then apologized to the dog that he couldn't bring the rest of his treasure back but congratulated him on how hard he must have fought. The dog picked up the box and started to walk away but turned around and started barking what had to be a thank you. Nami meanwhile was busy pulling her foot from her mouth as she watched the pirate do the selfless deed. She went over to apologize to the captain about her outburst when suddenly the mayor started yelling how he couldn't stand living in fear of the Buggy Pirates anymore and how he was going to fight them now and protect his treasure, the village they worked so hard to build.

Suddenly, all the houses on the block they were on were blown away thanks to Buggy's 'Buggy Balls'. Zorro suddenly sat up from the wreckage that was once the mayor's house saying that was one heck of an alarm clock. The chief then started to run off in the direction of the Buggy Pirates and said even though he knew it was reckless and stupid he was still going to fight as his duty to the village and its people. Luffy smiled and said that he liked the man and wasn't going to let him die as he watched the mayor's retreating form. Nami agreed to come with the two pirates as 'temporary allies' and let her keep the Clown Pirate's treasure. The trio came to the center of town to watch Boodle being chocked by one of Buggy's disembodied hands. Acting quickly, Luffy raced over and pulled the hand from the old man's neck. Boodle tried getting up and said it was his fight so the kids couldn't interfere. However, before the mayor could perform a suicidal charge, Luffy knocked the man out saying he was in the way. In reality he was preventing the old man from killing himself.

"HEY BIG NOSE!" Luffy yelled up at Buggy, much to everyone in the vicinities shock and horror.

"KILL HIM! FIRE THE BUGGY BALL!" Buggy roared to his crew.

Red cannonball was fired and Zorro and Nami got out of the way while Luffy stood their looking confident. Before the ball could hit, Luffy was quickly covered with dark hair and a long tail shot out his spine while his feet grew opposable thumbs. The now monkey boy (ironic) was easily able to catch the speeding cannonball before it could impact and chucked it back at the Buggy pirates with a yell of, "**Monkey Hammer Throw!**" Everyone in the area was still reeling in shock at the boy's transformation and the Buggy pirates couldn't doge the inevitable impact and explosion. Nami asked what the heck was that and Luffy explained his Devil Fruit powers to the speechless girl. Before more could be said the trio noticed both Buggy and his second mate Cabaji the Acrobat had withstood the explosion by using their crewmates and Richie the lion as shields for the blast. Just then Mohji awoke and noticed the straw hat wearing captain and quickly explained his powers to Buggy. Buggy, in a fit of rage for not being told earlier, through the animal tamer directly at Luffy, who proceeded to kick the man out of his way.

Cabaji then charged at the crew on a unicycle and wielding a sword but was stopped by Zorro. The two proceeded to fight while Luffy kept his attention on Buggy (the fight between the two is the same so I'll skip that and go straight to Luffy's fight). The two captains prepared to face each other as Cabaji fell unconscious. Nami meanwhile was going through the rubble of Buggy's former base searching for his crew's treasure. Zorro himself passed out due to his wounds but not before correcting a misconception Buggy and his crew had about him and Luffy, that they weren't thieves but pirates. Buggy asked his fellow captain what he wanted from the Buggy Pirates and the chimera boy told him that he planned to use their Grand Line map in order for him to become the pirate king. Buggy scoffed at this notion thinking himself the better pirate and mentioned how the boy annoyed him, just like the red-haired idiot who wore a similar hat annoyed him years ago.

Noticing that the clown was talking about his idol, Luffy asked Buggy how he knew Shanks and where he was now. Buggy simply said he wasn't going to tell him and proceeded to produce spring-loaded knives from his shoes before shooting his lower body off like a buzz saw. Buggy noticed the boy was nowhere to be found after the buzz saw passed where he was standing but noticed a hole in the ground. Luffy suddenly popped up from the ground behind the big nosed captain (dodges thrown knife) as a human-mole and sent a clawed fist at the pirates head yelling "**Whack-a-Mole Barrage!**" Buggy was able to dodge the attack by quickly separating his head from his body, causing the mole-boy to just barely miss. Buggy then pointed his knife-filled hand at the young captain and shot his arm like a gun before Luffy could dodge underground again. Luffy quickly shifted to human and caught the fast moving arm before it could spear his head. The attack wasn't over; however, as Buggy then separated his hand from his arm and the hand nicked a side of Luffy's face. What really ticked Luffy off though was the tiny gash the knife caused on the rim of his beloved hat.

The chimera man yelled at the chop-chop man not to mess with his treasure but Buggy didn't listen and instead threw a knife at Luffy causing him to dodge but left his hat unprotected to Buggy's knife filled hand. The hand speared the hand and took it over to Buggy who proceeded to throw it on the ground and spit on it once he found out it was Shanks' hat. Buggy then told his opponent that he and Shanks were both apprentice pirates on the same crew as kids. Luffy then charged at the older man who proceeded to separate his head in preparation for an attack. Luffy had other plans and, while shifting into a minotaur-like creature, rammed Buggy's torso head on in the stomach, causing the head to scream in pain before rejoining his body. Luffy then sat on the clown's stomach, still in his heavy bull form mind you, and wiped the spit off his hat on Buggy's face and demanded that the older captain tells him how he knew Shanks. The man was able to wheeze out over his collapsing lungs on his time together with Shanks and how the red head accidently made him swallow the Chop-Chop fruit that Buggy attempted to steal and also caused him to lose his map to an undersea treasure overboard. He then told Luffy how Shanks was able to save him from drowning after he dived after the map, but told the boy he still resented the man for all he made the clown lose.

Buggy then separated his torso that floated up in the air and proceeded to chase after Nami who had just came out of the rubble holding onto the Buggy Pirate's treasures. Just as Buggy was about to skewer the thief, there was a cry of, "**Donkey Dropkick!**" and Buggy let out a scream so high pitched it broke several windows. Confused, Nami looked at Luffy who transformed his lower body into a donkeys and had kicked Buggy straight in his family jewels. Luffy told Nami to drop the treasure and run but Nami refused saying that it was her treasure now since she was a thief and she just stole the treasure, ergo it's hers. Buggy, in a much higher pitched voice, told the girl she wasn't getting away and proceeded to separate his body into many tiny pieces that flew all over the place. Buggy's head and hands went after Nami while the rest of him distracted Luffy. Luffy then noticed that Buggy's feet couldn't fly so he grabbed them and proceeded to tickle them, stubbed the toes, and pinched them causing Buggy all sorts of discomfort. While the clown was distracted Nami swung the sack full of treasure at his face hoping to knock him unconscious, but he unfortunately caught it. Before Buggy could counter attack there was a cry of, "**Gorilla Pummel!**" and Luffy appeared only much more muscular and hairy then before, and punched the older man straight in the face, knocking the sad excuse for a pirate out cold.

Luffy then went and grabbed the map of the Grand Line but before he could celebrate, Buggy had regained consciousness and his head started floating saying that the fight wasn't over yet. The nose sensitive pirate then called his body parts back to him but something was obviously wrong. The only parts that came back were the hands and feet, making Buggy look like a hysterical version of a midget! Nami then stepped forward and showed Buggy's remaining parts tied up into a neat little package. Luffy congratulated the cat burglar before going into his chimera form and sending Buggy flying into the horizon with a cry of, "**Chimera Uppercut!"** Luffy then asked Nami once more if she'd join his crew and she agreed to a temporary partnership so long as she gained treasures like what she gained from looting Buggy. Luffy then gathered up his hat, took half the treasure Nami told him to carry, and woke Zorro up from his nap. Before he could go wake the mayor up the rest of the villagers had arrived because they were concerned when Boodle hadn't come back from town.

After seeing the mayor's knocked out form they demanded to know who did it, and Nami tried to think of an excuse while Luffy (who can't lie to save his life) told them that he did it. The villagers then demanded to know if they were pirates to which Luffy confirmed before Nami could shut the kid up. Before they knew it, the Straw Hat Pirates were running for their lives to the docks and when Nami demanded to know why he did such a reckless thing he responded with, "Because the villagers love their mayor so much they'd get mad no matter what excuse we used!" The mob was halted in their pursuit thanks to Chou-Chou, who stood between the mob and the pirates barking furiously. They made it to the docks and were about to board their respective boats when three Buggy Pirates, who had a bone to pick with Nami for stealing their ship and treasure, came out. Things might have gotten messy but the moment the three enemy pirates saw Zorro they swam off like the Hounds of Hell were after them. Wondering what that was all about, the trio got into their ships and were about to sail off when Boodle, who had regained consciousness, ran up to the end of the docks and gave the pirates a heartfelt thank you for all they'd done for the village. The three pirates smiled as they sailed off into the distance.

At least until Nami discovered Luffy left the half of the treasure he was carrying with the townspeople in order for them to rebuild their town. After beating his face to a pulp and threatening to throw him in the ocean it he ever pulled that stunt again the three sailed off onto their next big adventure!

**AN:** Sorry guys for the long update. You all are probably tired of hearing this but I had finals that I needed to deal with, not to mention this is my longest chapter to date. I had to skip a few scenes because they remain the same as canon and focused my attention to writing about what Luffy was going through. I hope you all found this enjoyable and hopefully I'll have the next chapter up before too long. I'm also thinking on posting a few other stories but this one will be my main focus because I have a good grasp on what I want to do with it. Please read and review and I eagerly await the next chapter. See ya!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the anime/manga/movies/etc. that I write about; otherwise I would be a millionaire NOT writing on fanfiction publishing my own ideas.

**Chapter 5**

Luffy, Zoro, and Nami were sailing on their two small dinghies a few days after the Buggy incident. Nami had graciously fixed Luffy's hat from the knife slashes that Buggy gave it and the animal boy couldn't be happier. Soon though both of the boys' growling stomachs told them it was time to eat, however there was barely a loaf of bread to share between the two small ships. Luffy then noticed an island in the distance and decided it would be the perfect opportunity for a new adventure! Luffy quickly steered the boat towards the seemingly deserted island, despite Nami's protests.

Once they landed, Luffy quickly jumped out and observed the heavily forested island. Nami reluctantly followed while Zoro went back to sleep. Once the duo reached the forest they noticed some really strange animals like: a fox with roster-like characteristics, a snake with white fur and rabbit ears, and a pig with a lion's mane. Unknown to Nami, Luffy was studying the animals intently. You see, while Luffy might have the mental maturity of an eleven year old on a sugar rush, he was quite clever in two aspects: fighting and animals. After obtaining his powers from the Chimera-Chimera fruit, he started looking through all sorts of animal books to see different kinds of animals, both real and mythical, to figure out different forms he could take as well as different attacks. He also studied the animals he's seen on the island he grew up in and in the forest his grandfather threw him in as a child to get more ideas. So, whenever Luffy finds new types of animals, he is always sure to study them intently so he can become a more effective fighter.

Suddenly, a voice boomed out from seemingly everywhere demanded, "**DON'T COME ANY CLOSER! GET OUT! I AM THE GUARDIAN OF THE FOREST AND I DEMAND YOU LEAVE OR FACE THE JUDGEMENT OF THE FOREST!**"

Luffy let his curiosity get the better of him and, ignoring the voice, walked deeper into the forest. Suddenly, the straw-hat captain felt his instincts go crazy and, quickly morphing into a kangaroo, jumped out of the way of a bullet fired at his back. The voice sounded again but it was more shocked than anything else, "**HUH?! W-WHAT KIND OF BEING ARE YOU!?**"

Nami noticed where the shot came from and tracked it to what appeared to be a large green bush sticking out of a chest with a smoking pistol still in front of it. The two stared at it for a minute while the 'bush' seemed to sweat nervously before a pair of feet came from the bottom of the chest and started to run off before tripping a few feet away. Suddenly, a man's head popped out of the chest and it was revealed that the 'bush' was actually the man's hair. The man yelled for help while the two teens watched with sweat drops on the back of their heads. After helping the shrub-like man, whose name is Gaimon, onto his feet the trio started talking. As it turns out, Gaimon had arrived on the island 20 years ago as a member of a pirate crew and had gotten stuck in the chest after finding a multitude of treasure chests on the top of an extremely tall plateau and was left behind by his crewmates. The man then asked Luffy if he himself had any treasure maps and Luffy explained his map and his dream of going to the Grand Line. Gaimon warned the duo about pirates he'd seen who came back from the Grand Line and how they were shadows of their former selves.

Gaimon then explained that he stayed on the island and used the 'Guardian of the Forest' routine to scare away visitors who might try to steal the treasure on the top of the plateau. The Straw-Hat Pirates were taken to the plateau and Luffy offered to retrieve the treasure for the castaway. Quickly changing himself into a hummingbird, Luffy darted to the top of the plateau and eventually called down that he found the chests, but he wasn't going to bring them down. While Nami started berating her new captain, Gaimon started crying tears of relief/joy/and grief all at once. He understood now that the chests that he'd wanted so long for were empty. Luffy decided to ask the wild-man if he would join their crew, in order to make up for the severe disappointment. Gaimon, however, declined stating that he'd grown fond of the island and its exotic animals over the years, and people had come to try and collect the animals as pets. He said he felt it was his duty to guard the animals that had been his friends for 20 years.

So, after being given supplies by Gaimon, the Straw Hats set sail onto their next adventure, with Gaimon and the animals waving goodbye on the mysterious island. (Zoro having slept through the whole thing).

**Scene Break**

Nami and Luffy where on the decks of their small dinghies debating on what they should do next before heading to the Grand Line. Luffy was busy thinking about food and Zoro gave his input about how they should have more booze on board, but Nami quickly shot down both ideas. She explained that the most important thing at the moment was finding a decent ship that could carry them to the Grand Line, as well as more crew members. They eventually landed on an island that, according to Nami, had a small village located on it. As the crew landed on the island and went to stretch, Zoro noticed 4 figures on the nearest hillside and asked out loud what they were doing, catching everyone's attention. There was some rustling from the bushes that Zoro was looking at, followed by hysterical screaming, and finally a young man around Luffy's age revealed himself to the group.

The boy wore long brown overalls with a sash as a belt and had a bag slung over his shoulder. He had long dark hair with a green bandana tied on top of it but his most distinguishing feature was the incredibly long, Pinocchio-like nose on his face. The boy laughed boisterously and proclaimed, "I am the great Captain Usopp, commander of over a thousand ships and 80 million men! This island is under my protection so if you plan to attack, you better leave now or face my wrath!"

"Liar," Nami said not amused by the clearly bluffing boy's antics.

"Crap! She saw through my lie!" Usopp cried out in a panic while clutching his head and sweating bullets.

Nami sweat-dropped and said, "See? I knew it!"

"Double crap! I admitted that I lied! She's a master of deduction!" exclaimed Usopp dramatically while twisting his body into odd angles while still clutching his head and sweating bullets.

At this Luffy cracked up at the other boys antics and started laughing out loud, much to Usopp's ire. A little while later the group was taken to one of the local taverns and were engaged in conversation over a meal with Usopp who was eager to hear about the crew's exploits. Once he found out that they were looking for crewmates and a big ship, the liar thought it sounded like the start of a great adventure. Deciding to help the pirates out, Usopp told them that their best chance for a ship on the island was to ask the local owner of a large mansion who was the wealthiest person on the island. It turns out the owner was a sickly girl who inherited her fortune from her parents after they died from disease. After hearing that, Nami said that they should look for a ship somewhere else.

Usopp gained a smug look and said that, since they were looking for crewmates, he'd happily join if they let him be the captain. The crew unanimously said no to that in a deadpanned voice to which Usopp face vaulted at. Soon after, the long nosed boy left the group to attend to personal business and around 5 minutes later three kids came in calling themselves the 'Usopp Pirates' and demanded to know where their captain was. Luffy then decided to comment on how good the meat he was eating was and the kids, having a very morbid sense of imagination, thought that the crew had eaten their captain. Zoro didn't help matters by jokingly saying that their captain was gobbled up, causing the three youngsters to faint while Zoro laughed and Nami scolded the swordsman.

After the Usopp Pirates regained consciousness and Nami explained that they were joking and told them that their captain had left a little while ago to attend to business. One of the kids said that the business was to go visit Kaya, the owner of the mansion, and he would tell her tall tales in order to help her feel better. After hearing that, Luffy decided that Usopp was a good person and would be someone he'd be willing to let join the crew. Luffy then thought it would be a good idea to go ask Kaya for a ship, seeing as she would feel better after visiting with Usopp. Dragging his two crewmates along, Luffy headed towards the mansion with the Usopp Pirates in tow.

Arriving at the mansion, Luffy loudly asked for a ship before he started to climb the gate surrounding the building. Soon the group found Usopp talking to a young girl at her window who could only be Kaya. Usopp did a double take when he noticed the group while Luffy went to Kaya and asked her if she could spare them a ship. Suddenly, a voice called out, "What are you doing here?! You can't just barge onto private property like this!"

A man wearing glasses, stripped shoes, and a fancy suit with what looked like two golden turds attached was walking towards the gathering and Kaya introduced the man as her butler Clahador. The man proved to be an exact representation of the decorations on his suit, minus the gold. Clahador told the gathered people to leave the area immediately and denied Luffy's request for a ship. He then spotted Usopp and called him a lying low-life son of pirate trash, and he should no longer bother Kaya if he was after her money. Kaya berated her butler and told him to stop insulting Usopp but the man kept running his big yapper and Usopp, in a fit of anger, slugged the douche square in the face. The long-nosed liar then said that he was proud to be the son of a pirate and that his father was a good man, and he would tolerate no insults towards him.

Usopp then left in a huff of anger, with Luffy following close behind, not that anyone else noticed. The animal boy found Usopp on a hill overlooking the sea and went to greet him. By which I mean he climbed a nearby tree and scared the crap out of the liar by jumping down from a branch right in front of him. After the long nosed boy recovered from his mini heart attack, the two settled down and stared out at the sea. Suddenly Luffy said, "Yasopp was your dad right? You look just like him."

This got Usopp's attention and asked Luffy, "How do you know my dad?" to which he replied that he met the man when he was young because the pirate was with Shanks' crew. "HE'S WITH SHANKS?!" came Usopp's incredulous reply. He couldn't believe his dad was with such a famous pirate captain! Luffy told Usopp on how his dad was a great marksman, able to shoot the wings off a fly at 80 paces. He also told the boy how his father would use to constantly brag about him to Luffy and how his dad missed him even though he had to heed the call of a pirate's life. This filled Usopp with pride as he told Luffy how much he admired his father and Clahador's biting comments really hurt his pride. The young captain asked if he'd ever go to visit Kaya again to which Usopp said he would but only if the jerk of a butler apologized first. They both then noticed that said jerk was on the beach below the cliff they were on talking to a man with a disturbing resemblance to Michael Jackson, only with blond hair and a goatee with heart-shaped sunglasses. He even dressed and did the moon walk like the King of Pop, what a rip-off!

What the two heard shocked them. As it turns out, 'Clahador' was actually the thought dead pirate captain 'Kuro of a Thousand Plans,' and he, along with his first mate 'Jango the Hypnotist,' where planning to murder Kaya to get her money! They planned to have their crew, The Black Cat Pirates, attack the town and during the confusion Jango would hypnotize Kaya into wright out her will and leave everything to her butler Clahador before suffering a fatal 'accident.' This was apparently a plan 3 years in the making when Kuro decided to quit the pirate life and went on to play the part of the loyal butler to Kaya's family.

Usopp was planning to run into town to warn everyone when Luffy suddenly stood up and yelled down, "HEY, DON'T KILL KAYA! WE HEARD EVERYTHING!" while Usopp looked at him like he was the dumbest person on the planet. Unfortunately, both of them were noticed by the two conspirators, and Jango pulled out a ring attached to a string. The Michael Jackson impersonator then said, "When I say 'One, two, Jango' you will fall into a deep sleep. Ready? One…two…JANGO!" Luffy, who was staring directly at the ring, fell into a deep sleep and took a nose-dive off the cliff while Usopp, who was too busy panicking to look at the ring, watched in horror as the chimera captain fell to a likely death. Jango himself also fell into a deep sleep for staring too intently at the ring.

After Kuro woke him up, Jango asked if he should kill the other one but the Black Cat captain said it was alright because even if Usopp told everyone, no one would believe him due to his reputation as the town's liar. Usopp ran off into town while the two pirates left the area at a leisurely pace. If any of them actually stayed to investigate, they'd notice Luffy was still alive and still sound asleep. Because of his animal-like endurance, as well as having experienced worse from his grandpa's training, the fall was just a minor inconvenience to Luffy.

The straw hat wearing boy was awoken several hours later by his crew and the Usopp Pirates and told them everything that happened. Luffy then wondered how he got down the cliff and why he was sleeping while everyone else was thinking of their next course of action. The group went into town and ran into Usopp who was bleeding from his left arm. Apparently he had tried to worn the town but like Kuro predicted, no one believed him. What was worse was that Kaya didn't believe him either and one of her guards shot him as he tried to convince her. After getting over the shock at seeing Luffy alive and well, Usopp then told his followers that he made the whole thing up so they wouldn't get hurt trying to back him up. He planned on stopping the pirates before they attacked so no one would know what happened and it would just be another lie to them. That was how much the boy loved his village.

Admiring his courage, Luffy and his crew agreed to help the long nosed boy defend his town. Usopp led the group to a hill that lead from the beach to the town and had a narrow path that was flanked by two large cliffs. He told the Straw Hats that it was the main way to get to the town from the slope, so they had to defend it with their lives. The long nosed boy asked the group what they were best at to evaluate their chances. Zoro was 'cutting,' Luffy was 'shifting,' and Nami was 'stealing.' Usopp his best skill was running and hiding, causing the group to face-vault before yelling, "YOU HAVE TO FIGHT TOO!"

Usopp then got a large amount of oil and poured it down the slope and said that the best way to fight the pirates would be to prevent them from climbing the slope and attacking them from a distance. Soon the sun rose, but there was no sign of the pirates. Suddenly they heard a loud noise coming from the opposite side of the island and Usopp realized, to his horror, that there was another identical slope to the north of the island! He figured since the pirates had their meeting at their current position that they would attack from there. The sniper then said it was a 3 minute run to the other side of the island and Luffy took off at super-human speeds while Nami accidently pushed Zoro down the oil slicked slope in her hurry to get to the other side of the island where she realized both their ships and her treasure where at!

Luffy realized that he was running the wrong way before he decided to do this the faster way and changed into a horse before galloping towards the northern slope. He met up with Zoro, Nami, and Usopp at the slope and was able to repel a wave of pirates with Zoro's help. It looked like Nami and Usopp arrived first and had already fought for a while if Usopp's wounds were anything to go by. The real fight had just begun!

**AN: **Sorry about the cliff hanger and if it was a little lackluster. It's just that there was going to be such a huge fight that I felt adding it on with all the filler would take the fun out of the story. So don't worry boys and girls, the next chapter will be Legen, wait for it, dary! Legendary! As always please read and review. Next chapter should come up sometime next month but first Jealous Fox and maybe Kid Kyubi if my muse strikes me over the head with a wrecking ball.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the anime/manga/movies/etc. that I write about; otherwise I would be a millionaire NOT writing on fanfiction publishing my own ideas.

**Chapter 6**

The Straw Hat Pirates and Usopp stood at the top of the hill, staring at the vicious Black Cat Pirates being led by Jango the Hypnotist. The enemy pirates all seemed to where fake cat ears and had black eyeliner on, which you would think would make them seem comical but in reality gave them a slightly fierce look. Luffy and Zoro seemed calm if slightly out of breath from running the entire island while Usopp and Nami looked ready to pee their pants.

Nami took this moment to yell at the two newly arrived teammates, "WHAT TOOK YOU TWO IDIOTS SO LONG?!"

Zoro seethed, "ME?! You're the one who pushed me down an oiled covered hill! What are you blaming me for huh!?"

Luffy meanwhile laughed sheepishly before saying, "We'll you guys didn't tell me which direction north was so…"

Usopp looked at the straw-hatted captain incredulously, "You're the one who ran off before I could tell you." He said in an exasperated tone.

"Well, we're here now so no problem right?" Luffy said with a carefree grin.

Meanwhile, the Black Cat Pirates Luffy and Zoro knocked down in their entrance where picking themselves up while wondering how a couple idiots were able to send them flying. Jango looked at his crew with disdain and said, "Hey, you idiots couldn't have been so easily bested by one blow from those fools are you? Get up! The longer we make Kuro wait the more likely it is he'll kill us, and I don't know about you guys but I happen to like living!" Jango made it a point to do various Michael Jackson-like moves while driving his point home.

The hypnotist then pulled out a ring on a string (heh, rhymed) and stated firmly, "If the opponent is strong then we must be stronger!" pulling his hat over his eyes while swinging the ring back and forth he continued, "Look at my pendulum, at 'One, Two, Jango' you will be strong, you will not feel any pain, and you will be unstoppable!"

What the man didn't realize was that a certain idiot captain was also staring at the ring as it rocked back and forth, wondering what was going on. "One, Two, Jango!" Jango yelled. Suddenly, the wounded pirates shot up as if they were on Red Bull and Vicodin while yelling like the Incredible Hulk. One of the pirates decided to go all Mr. Universe and was able to crush a solid rock with only his hand! Things were looking bad for the Straw Hats as Zoro told Nami and Usopp to retreat while he turned to his captain. But, before Zoro could form any plans with Luffy, the captain let out a loud roar while changing into his chimera form, startling Zoro and Nami while scaring the crap out of everyone else. It was at this moment the Straw Hats noticed the blank look in Luffy's eyes and realized that the moron got himself hypnotized as well! The beastly boy gave another roar as he plowed his way through the enemy pirates and sending them all flying with at the very least a mild concussion one associates with running headfirst into a building.

Usopp stared in naked shock as the boy he had befriended the other day transformed into some sort of hybrid monster and began manhandling the Black Cat Pirates like a redheaded stepson. Jango was also staring in shock and quite a bit of terror as his super-powered crew was laid out faster than a five year old vs. Mike Tyson. The pirates who remained conscious after the initial assault ran screaming like little girls in the opposite direction while the chimera boy ran past and grabbed onto the cat-shaped figurehead of the Black Cat Pirate's ship. All of the cat-like pirates watched in horror as the monster with the straw hat tore off the bow of their ship like it was a Band-Aid. Luffy then started to chase the scared-senseless pirates while wildly swinging the bow of their ship. Thinking quickly, Jango placed the rabid monster under another hypnotism that made him fall asleep. Unfortunately, the bow Luffy had been wielding fell on top of him and the majority of the Black Cat pirates, knocking them out while Luffy slept like a baby (a mythical beast baby that is).

Jango seethed at the sheer stupidity of the situation he found himself in while the Straw Hats sat back to relax. Seemed like it'd be an easy victory right? WRONG! Everyone present (and conscious) heard two voices coming from the now headless ship, talking in concerned voices about the impromptu remodeling that just occurred. Jango gained a smirk, at last someone who could set the plans back into action and hopefully spare him Kuro's rage! "Come on out, Meowban Brothers!" he shouted out. There was a burst of movement from the ship and two figures jumped to the ground below.

The new figures were…odd to say the least. One of them was named Sham and he had a hunched back while wearing a shirt with a bowtie and shorts, as well as having curly green hair and slit pupils. The other was a large (fat) man named Buchi and he simply wore a cape with a hood on it and a cat bell with stripped shorts. Both wore cat-like gloves with claws and had cat-ear like accessories similar to the rest of the crew, except Buchi's was worn on his hood. "You called for us, captain?" Sham asked while Buchi simply asked, "What's up?"

Jango jerked his thumb over his shoulder to point at the remaining Straw Hats, more specifically Zoro who was looking _quite _intimidating with his bandana on and sword drawn, and stated, "Buchi, Sham, we couldn't get up the slope thanks to those meddling kids! (kidding, what he actually said was…) because those guys are blocking our way! Now go and destroy them!"

The two ship guardians looked over at the Straw Hats (again, Zoro looking _**quite **_intimidating) and suddenly shook with fear spouting crap like, "How can we beat them?!" and "Those guys look really strong!" The Straw Hats looked at the two scaredy-cats (bada-bing!) incredulously and wondered why in the heck Jango thought they'd be a threat to the crew. Said hypnotist soon got fed up by the brother's antics and ordered Sham to attack, which he did so reluctantly. As he charged at Zoro, the swordsman simply told him that he wasn't a match for him and that he should leave before he got himself hurt. Suddenly, Sham gave a burst of speed and was able to get into a deadlock with Zoro using his clawed gloves.

"Let me guess, you thought I was a coward right?" Sham said with a smirk, "Idiot! I was only pretending to be scared to get you to lower your guard!" With that, Sham disengaged their stalemate but it soon became apparent something was wrong. Nami called out, "Zoro! Your swords!" With a jolt, Zoro checked his waist and noticed his other two katana were missing! Looking over, Zoro noticed in anger that Sham had swiped the two swords and placed them on his back while looking pleased at his little 'cat burglar' performance. To his increasing ire, Zoro watched as Sham carelessly threw the two swords down the slope stating, "I should get this junk out of the way before the fight, huh?"

Zoro charged forth with blinding speeds, seemingly cutting Sham in half but this was just a ploy. Sham's actual body was really thin so the cut only went through his clothes. Sham used the distraction to jump onto Zoro's shoulders and grabbing his arms while calling out to Buchi. The fat cat jumped high into the air over the immobile Zoro and called out, "**Cat Stomp!**" while extending his leg into a dropkick. Fortunately Zoro was able to just barely avoid the attack, which caused cracks to appear where Buchi's foot landed. The duo started attacking Zoro with wild scratch-like attacks, which he had trouble blocking due to only having one blade.

Usopp tried to help the struggling former pirate hunter by firing a lead shot from his sling-shot, but Zoro blocked the shot with his body, giving an opening for Buchi and Sham to claw his chest. Nami reasoned that he did that so the pirates wouldn't make them their target if the attack had landed. The thief then decided to make a run for the discarded swords but was unfortunately spotted by Jango. Using one of his rings, the hypnotist slashed Nami across her back with the ring's bladed edge. Suddenly Jango, the Meowban Brothers, and all of the Black Cat Pirates became still while shaking in uncontrollable fear.

The reason for their fear came in the form of Captain Kuro, who had just arrived and was looking _extremely _ticked! Kuro said in an icy voice, "It's been awhile since dawn. Why haven't you attacked yet, HUH JANGO?!"

The pirates cowed under their captain's harsh glare, remembering how cruel and remorseless he could be. Kuro then said condescendingly, "I wouldn't have expected the Black Cat Pirates to be held up by some kids. This crew has been reduced to a truly sad state, right Jango?" Said hypnotist started sweating waterfalls under his captains 'I'll kill you' look. Jango sputtered, "B-but y-you told me t-to let that kid go! You said he wouldn't affect our plans!"

Kuro gave a nod and stated, "That's true, however it doesn't excuse your uselessness! I expected that brat to come after us but he cannot affect our plans!" Suddenly, Buchi and Sham were finally able to overcome some of the fear they were feeling and cried out, "Don't look down on us, Captain Kuro! You said we're useless, but you've been living here in comfort for the past three years while we've been active this entire time! It's true you were powerful in the past, but we've never stopped attacking villages and ships!" The duo continued, despite Jango's attempts to warn the two. Meanwhile, the Straw Hats stared at the internal conflict, hoping it could work in their favor.

The duo then leapt at Kuro screaming that they wouldn't be killed over something as stupid as a failed plan, also stating that Kuro was no longer a threat to them, allowing them to kill him. They then did a combo slash at their former captain, only to find that they only got the bag he was carrying. Kuro had moved behind the two now wearing clawed gloves, except they held katana blades at each finger, with his signature '**Silent Step**'. The Meowban Brothers quickly turned around only to find him missing. Kuro then was behind the duo, placing his arms around their shoulders saying, "Who were you going to kill? It's true that I may not be feeling too active, and I also may not be your captain, but as of now I'm your client. A client who can kill you if the plan fails."

The Straw Hats and the Black Cats looked on in awe at Kuro's speed while Jango stepped up stating, "What are you so surprised about? His **Silent Step **technique is a silent movement technique that could allow him to kill 50 assassins silently. We can't escape from his plans. You may think Kuro's gotten soft over the years but, you can tell by how he still only pushes his glasses up by the palms of his hands like he does while wearing his Cat Claws that he hasn't forgotten how to fight!"

Kuro ran the blades of his gloves over Sham and Buchi's throats while musing, "I must have gotten soft over the years because I'm feeling generous. I'll give you five minutes to kill these brats and if you can't get it done in that time frame…I'll kill you all." Kuro finished in a dark tone.

Just as the Meowban Brothers prepared to attack, Nami kicked Zoro's swords over to him, much to his ire, allowing him to properly defend himself. With his swords at hand, Zoro was easily able to K.O. Sham and left Buchi heavily injured. Buchi then had Jango hypnotize him to increase his power, causing him to go into a berserker rage. Nami was able to get over to Luffy's sleeping form (which had reverted back to human after he fell asleep) while dodging Jango's razor-rings and kicked her captain awake right in the face. Luffy awoke with a start and turned to yell at Nami, only to receive a razor-ring right to the back of the head. After pulling it out, Luffy cried out, "That HURT!" with tears in his eyes. Meanwhile, Nami and Usopp relaxed a bit, seeing as the battle just became much easier.

After getting over the fact that he just had a sharp object literally jammed into his head, Luffy checked to see if Nami was okay after noticing her shoulder injury (to which she said she'd be fine after getting the Black Cat's treasure). He then noticed with a smirk that Kuro was there, and said, "Heh, even the evil butler's here!" Meanwhile, said evil butler was wondering how the heck Luffy survived falling off a cliff. It was at this time someone made a highly untimely intervention, Kaya!

After trying to convince Kuro to just take her money and leave the village alone, Kuro seemed undisturbed by this event. He calmly and coldly told Kaya that it wasn't just her money that he was after, but 'peace of mind', and in order to obtain both 'peace' and 'money', he explained that his crew needed to attack the village and she needed to die for his plans to be complete. To everyone's shock, Kaya then pulled out a pistol and pointed it straight a Kuro! After she demanded him to leave the village, Kuro decided to play dirty and shifted to his 'Clahador' personality, reminding Kaya of all the good times they had together, in order for Kaya to lower her guard. It was then he stated cruelly, "I've suffered taking care of you long enough! Can you imagine how I, a former pirate captain, felt by taking care of a brat like you every day for the past three years?! It was insulting! That is why you have to die today."

Suddenly, Usopp charged at Kuro with his fist cocked back for a punch. Kuro easily dodged the swing and said while smirking, "Ah yes, now that I think about it Usopp I still owe you for the punch you gave me earlier. You really hit me hard!" The vicious pirate said with a predatory look in his eyes as he slashed his clawed gloves to bifurcate the wannabe pirate. Before he could touch the liar though, Kuro was struck down by a speeding blur, much to Jango's shock. The blur turned out to be Luffy, who had shifted into humanoid black and white long-legged bird that had a bushy crest and long, thick, dark bill with a long, dark tail, a dark head and back, and was blue on the front of the neck and on the belly, all while still wearing his human clothes and having feathered arms instead of wings. The humanoid roadrunner smirked as much as his beak allowed and said, "If you hate being hit, I'll make sure to hit you 100 more times!"

The Black Cats, Kaya, and Usopp openly gaped at the transformed boy wondering just what in the heck he was while Kuro simply glared up at the boy through his now cracked glasses. The enemy pirates were able to snap out of their shock to shudder in fear at the near visible rage Kuro was emitting. Luffy meanwhile jumped back in preparation for a counter-attack. Suddenly, a battle cry echoed through the clearing and out of the woods popped the Usopp Pirates carrying random implements like a shovel and a frying pan, and started whacking Kuro over the face like he was a Whack-a-Mole. Apparently they hadn't bought their leader's lie on lying about the pirate invasion and had followed Kuro to the beach when they saw him leaving the mansion. Everyone in the clearing stared in shock at the sheer gall and stupidity of the three kids while Usopp tried to tell them to run away.

The trio turned to their captain, ignoring the seemingly knocked out pirate behind them and exclaimed, "Captain, you were fighting all this time without us! That's disloyal while it should have been dishonest! Besides, we'll fight for you till the bitter end!" Suddenly, Kuro sat up like a zombie out of a horror flick while adjusting his now ruined glasses. The Usopp Pirate's all screamed like little girls and scooted as far as humanly possible form the man. Kuro simply stood up and calmly walked over to Usopp before savagely kicking the boy in the ribs before turning to the now transformed back Luffy.

"I'm curious, just what was that attack earlier? Your entire body changed into some sort of creature. Do you perhaps possess the power of a Devil's Fruit?" Kuro asked.

"Yep, I ate the Chimera-Chimera Fruit, now I'm an Animal Man!" Luffy happily explained.

The Black Cats gawked at this piece of information while Kuro simply nodded before calling out, "Jango! I'll handle this kid while you go after Kaya. Make sure she writes her will and then kill her! As for the brats, they irritate me." "Got it," responded Jango who proceeded up the slope but was stopped by Zoro, who stood in his path.

Annoyed, Jango called out to Buchi who did another **Cat Stomp **at Zoro, who was able to dodge but the attack was able to shatter a good portion of the ground, thanks to Buchi's enhanced strength. Jango continued up the slope while Zoro was distracted and Usopp was too injured from the beginning of the battle to move. Usopp called to his band of followers and gave them a direct order to protect Kaya, to which they promised that they would. The boys grabbed the girl and carried her off to the forest with Jango in hot pursuit. Fortunately, Usopp was able to slow the hypnotist down with a well-placed shot fired from his sling-shot. Kuro order Jango to hurry up, which resulted in the man to chase after the fleeing group. Afterwards, Zoro and Luffy got ready for the fight of their lives!

After about five seconds, Buchi was knocked out cold thanks to Zoro (okay, maybe not the fight of their lives) and the swordsman picked up the wounded sniper to help him save Kaya. Kuro crouched into a fighting position and asked the fleeing duo, "Who said I'd let you pass?"

"I DID!" Luffy cheered as he rushed forward, morphing into his cheetah form as he ran in increasingly higher speeds. Kuro was just barely able to dodge the swipe Luffy made at him with his claws that snapped the tree behind the conspirator cleanly in half. "Go Zoro! Go Usopp!" Luffy cried out as he sent a series of rapid fire swipes and punches at the former pirate captain. As the duo ran after Jango and the Usopp Pirates, Kuro found himself having a hard time dodging the steady stream of attacks coming from the Cheetah boy. Luffy sent a swiping kick with his clawed foot that would have taken Kuro's head off if it connected, only for the villain to seemingly disappear with his **Silent Step**. If Luffy was a normal person he wouldn't be able to keep up with Kuro's movements at all, but thanks to his enhanced vision granted by his cat-like eyes, as well as his experience moving at high speeds, he was able to see the direction Kuro sped off to.

Using his enhanced speed, the chimera captain sped over to Kuro's new position in speeds equal to, if not slightly faster than the false butler. Kuro's eyes widened as he was just able to make out Luffy's speeding form and made a wide slash at the black and yellow blur with his clawed gloves. Luffy was fortunate to see the attack coming and was able to leap over the attack, landing behind the traitorous captain with cat-like grace and sent a vicious backhand into Kuro's face, causing him to rocket backwards at the strength behind the punch. Kuro pulled himself up as his crew stared in awe at the kid who landed not just one, but _two_ hits on their captain and seemed to match him in terms of speed! Kuro noticed the wide Cheshire cat grin on the transformed boy's face and asked, "What are you so happy about?"

"Well, it's not often I get to do these high-speed fights. Normally I only use my faster forms if I either try to end a fight fast or just need a quick speed boost. Fighting you though will really help me test my limits with speed! It really makes me excited!" Luffy explained with a laugh.

Kuro seemed to ponder this for a moment before asking, "Before we continue, I want to ask you one question: you're a stranger here so why are you getting involved with this village?"

Luffy paused for a second before breaking out into a toothy grin (given his cheetah anatomy this was actually a fairly intimidating sight) and said plainly, "I have a friend in this village, and I don't want to see him dead!"

The schemer gave a mocking smile and said, "What a simple reason. Are you sure you're alright with it? After all, it'll be your reason for dying." With that Kuro spread out his bladed fingers so it looked like wings.

Luffy gave another grin as he shifted back into human form before getting into a ready stance and proclaiming, "That's okay! I'm not gonna die anyway!"

The two fighters shot at each other like they were fired out of a canon. Luffy started to seemingly get bigger and suddenly there was a charging rhino in his place. Kuro was able to nimbly jump over the rampaging Luffy by using the tip of his horn as a spring-board. The butler gave a powerful backwards kick into the back of Luffy's head which, when added to his momentum and mass, caused him to go crashing into the ground with a mighty bang. The Straw Hat captain quickly shifted back to human as he dodged Kuro's follow up slash and transformed his body into a black mamba like being with a human torso and arms and hissed out **"Snake Sweep!"** flicking his powerful tail at Kuro's legs. Once again the glasses-wearing pirate jumped over the incoming attack but Luffy anticipated this move and shot his arm forward, allowing it to stretch out longer than normal due to a snake's natural flexibility. Before the surprise attack reached Kuro, the man simply vanished in another burst of **Silent Step**. Luffy and the Black Cats were shocked to see Kuro casually standing on Luffy's outstretched arm.

"Is that all? I feel like I might fall asleep at this rate. Where was your speed from before, hm?" Kuro said mockingly before bringing his leg back for a vicious kick to Luffy's snake-like face, throwing him backwards in a heap. Luffy shifted once again back to his human form while shooting out some blood from his damaged nose. The Black Cats started cheering for their former captain and started chanting his name. Kuro only seemed to be annoyed by this and yelled out, "Don't call me using that name! You don't get it yet do you? The real purpose of this plan is to eliminate the name 'Captain Kuro' forever! I'm sick and tired of planning for you reckless morons. As I became more and more notorious, more of the marine's dogs and bounty hunters started to come after me and it quickly grew annoying. That is why, three years ago, I 'killed' myself to escape that life! What happened that day was essential for today's plan to be successful. My plan can only be completed when I have achieved wealth and peace. Do you understand now brat? I cannot allow you to disrupt my plans!" With that said Kuro charged at Luffy with his claws bared.

Luffy's body quickly grew in size as thick brown hair covered his body and knifelike claws sprouted from his hands, making him a human grizzly bear. With a grunt of effort, Luffy picked up a huge boulder and used it as a shield against Kuro's attack, causing the claws of his one glove to be stuck in the rock. "So I see you're not just an animalistic brute," Kuro said with a scowl as he tried to remove his blades to no avail.

"That's right! I've been training to become a pirate!" Luffy said with a toothy grin and with a roar the Bear-boy gave the boulder a sharp twist, snapping the blades like toothpicks. The Black Cats watched in shock as their captains infamous "Cat Claws" were broken. Luffy then lifted the rock over his head and said, "You said you were sick and tired of your name being known? Then how can you call yourself a pirate?!" with that Luffy gave another bear-like roar and smashed the rock over Kuro's head, knocking him to the ground. Luffy said triumphantly, "My dreams are far greater than your plans!"

Kuro slowly got up, his slick backed hair hung loosely from his face as blood dripped down from a gash in his forehead, giving a truly haunting image. His crew tried cheering him on, but realizing he didn't want to be called Kuro, they tried calling the man by his fake name 'Clahador'. "Shut up," Kuro said with venom in his voice, "After this is done, all of you must die, and Jango is no exception!" This shocked Luffy and the Black Cat's at the man's cruelty.

Suddenly some members of the crew started laughing nervously and making calming gestures. One member said, "Please stop joking, Captain Kuro!" while another cried out, "It's still not too late to attack the village!" and yet another pointed out, "As long as Jango can make that girl write the will, the plan will still succeed!"

Kuro shook his head bemusedly and explained, "You don't have to worry about the plan. As long as your corpses are here, I can place all the blame on you. I never intended on any of you leaving this village alive because it would be a disadvantage leaving anyone who knows my plans alive!" with his current disheveled state, the statement made him look that much more depraved.

"Y-you mean from the very beginning, you planned to kill us all?!" cried out his crew in shock and dismay.

"Yes, ever since that day three years ago, this has all been a part of my plan!" Kuro stated with a devilish smirk.

Luffy, shrinking back into his human form, commented loudly, "You guys are dumb (gotta love the blunt honesty that is Luffy). What a bunch of loser pirates!"

Kuro scoffed, "Losers? A pirate crew is just a gathering of outcaste outlaws. What could these fools do without my plans? You should continue to quietly follow my plans! In a pirate fleet, the crew is just pawns for the captain to use as he wishes, which means their life and death are in my hands! Even if there's a cliff in front of them, you'd have to follow my orders and charge at it! And sacrifice themselves for my plans!" now Kuro looked furious, "That is the way of the pirate! A wandering little brat like you would never understand!"

Luffy just gave a confident smile and said, "Even though you're a captain who controls hundreds of men, you still can't beat Usopp!"

Kuro then paused and had confused expression as he asked, "What? You say I'm inferior to that 'captain' in a kid's pirate game?" After Luffy gave the affirmative, Kuro let out a bark of laughter, "HA! You're so stupid! Don't get cocky just because you've broken my Cat Claws! In what way am I inferior to him!?" he exclaimed as he disappeared behind Luffy in a burst of **Silent Step**.

"The way you think," came Luffy's simple response, which made Kuro pause long enough for the Straw Hat Captain to deliver a vicious backhand to his face while saying, "You don't know what a true pirate is supposed to be!"

The Black Cats were shocked to see someone see through their captain's **Silent Step**, but in reality it was thanks to Luffy's higher than normal instincts and reflexes that he could easily keep up with Kuro's speeds. Kuro meanwhile pulled himself up with a bloodthirsty look on his face and said, "You've insulted me! Don't get cocky just because of your powers! I've noticed one weakness to your fighting style is that you have to shift back to human before you can transform into another creature! With this in mind, I'll show you what a real pirate is supposed to be like, as well as the terror of a real pirate! A real pirate, who's been at the brink of death and survived!" he exclaimed while getting into a slouched position, much to his crews horror.

"It's his **Out of the Bag Attack**! He's using it against only one person?!" One member screamed in fright while another yelled out, "He really is trying to kill us all! None of us are safe here either!" The crew started backing away while some begged for their lives and begged Kuro not to use that technique, saying that they'd leave and forget they ever knew him. Kuro meanwhile continued to sway in his hunched over position before calling out "**Out of the Bag Attack!**" and disappeared in a dust cloud, much to Luffy's confusion. Suddenly, there was a blood curdling scream from one of the enemy pirates as his torso gained deep claw marks across it in a spray of blood. Another soon followed and then the claw marks appeared on nearby rocks and trees.

Some of the pirates called out for Kuro to stop while one yelled out, "It's no use! Whenever he uses this attack he moves so fast that he can't tell what he's attacking! He won't stop till he gets tired!" As more and more pirates were cut, Luffy's anger grew and grew as he watched the pointless massacre in front of him. Luffy threw back his head and yelled out, "COME OUT YOU EVIL BUTLER! JUST WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK CREW MEMBERS ARE?!" even as he got a few cuts along his arms and chest. Little did he know that Nami saw the whole thing and was shocked at Luffy's outburst.

Luffy then took on a still pose and waited for the right moment. Suddenly, his instincts screamed out at him and he reached out, seemingly grabbing air until a surprised Kuro suddenly appeared in his grasp. Luffy quickly tossed the shocked man on his back while giving a happy call of, "Gotcha!" Kuro got up with a snarl and spat out, "You punk! You should have let me kill you quickly! Now look, my beloved (yeah right!) crew is half-dead and in pain because of you (cough-bull-cough!)! Do you have something to say?!" he asked as he noticed Luffy had gone silent during his tirade.

"Yep, I swear I'll never ever be a pirate like you!" Luffy declared with a smirk as he cracked his knuckles.

"Oh you won't be," stated Kuro as he once again got into a slouched position, "Because you're going to die right here, right now!"

Before Kuro could once again use his deadliest attack, Luffy was right in front of him in a burst of speed similar to Kuro's with noticeably longer legs that had hooves and faint spotted markings on them. Luffy grabbed onto the butler's arms and wrapped a thin, whip like tail growing from his spine that had a small bush of hair at the tip around the villain's waist and cheerfully said, "Just try it! Try and use your **Silent Step **now!"

"Curse you! Let me go!" Kuro howled as he tried with no avail to break out of the transformed boy's grasp. "Now your three year plan will fail!" Luffy stated confidently to which Kuro gave an indignant, "What did you say!?"

The Black Cat Pirates had started to cheer again, but they were cheering for Luffy now in hopes that the chimera man would finish their traitorous captain off. Luffy gave an irritated huff before snapping his head back to face the pirates, his neck elongating with yellow fur with brown spots growing on it till his head was a foot from the pirates, freaking them out. "I don't need your cheers! I'm gonna beat you all up too so be ready!" Luffy said through clenched teeth. With that he called out "**Giraffe…**"

Captain Kuro meanwhile was still struggling in the newly dubbed giraffe man's grasp and he yelled out in outrage, "How can this be?! My plan CANNOT FAIL!"

"…**Headshot!**" Luffy called out as he retracted his neck at a shocking rate before his head collided with Kuro's in a savage head-butt, snapping the evil pirates head back and nocking his glasses off. As Kuro fell back unconscious, the Black Cat Pirates stared in awe at the man who took down the pirate who was able to defeat a ship of marines, Kuro of 1000 Plans. They asked in fright, "Who are you?!"

"Monkey D. Luffy. There's no way I'd lose to a pirate who gave up his name and runs from the sea!" with that Luffy turned around and gave the staring pirates a wide grin, "You better try and remember my name, because I'm the one who's going to become the Pirate King!"

Luffy then hefted Kuro up before tossing him back to the shocked pirates and yelled out, "Take him and DON'T COME BACK!" he finished with an animalistic roar. The pirates didn't need to be told twice as they took the phrase 'Scaredy-Cat' to a whole new meaning as they bolted to their ship. Luffy then started to sway from taking so many cuts during the battle and was caught by Nami, who had finished robbing the other pirates' blind.

After lying her captain down, Nami sat beside him and said, "I guess even you can't stand up after being cut so many times. Why did you get so mad earlier?" to which Luffy replied, "I don't like them, they're wrong!"

Nami stared at the boy curiously for a moment before commenting, "What are you talking about? It's obviously because they're pirates." Luffy just stated that he wanted meat to which Nami sweat-dropped.

Meanwhile, Usopp and Zoro were able to stop Jango with the help of the Usopp Pirate's and surprisingly enough Kaya. The hypnotist was laid out cold after an exploding shot fired from Usopp caught him square in the face. Usopp had his followers promise to keep the day's events a secret so the town's people didn't get scared. Afterwards, the kids had gone home and the town was none the wiser of the day's events. Back at the slope, Usopp gave a heartfelt thank you to the Straw Hats. The pirates brushed it off saying that it was no trouble at all. Usopp then said in a determined voice, "In light of this, there's a decision I've made," much to the crew's curiosity.

**Scene Break**

Usopp stood in front of his 'crew' and addressed them once he was sure they were all there (couldn't be hard with only 3 members). Usopp said in a proud tone, "You guys fought bravely against those Black Cat Pirates, a fight worthy of the Usopp Pirates, I am proud to call myself your captain! It was five years ago when you were all four years old that we formed this group, and this was the greatest, most magnificent battle we've experienced in all that time. And now, it's sudden but I've decided to go to sea myself and become a real pirate!" Seeing the groups stunned silence the long nosed boy continued, "After seeing them, I decided that I'm going to leave this village. There is only one reason, that the pirate flag is calling me!"

The group gave loud protests to this, checking to see if their captain was lying again and asking what was to become of the Usopp Pirates. Usopp smiled and said calmly, "Thanks for everything guys! I don't plan on telling the folks in the village, so say bye to them for me please?" he then gained a reminiscent look on his face despite the groups protests as he said, "Don't you guys remember that this was the spot that we first met? A lot has happened sense then," he stated with tears forming in his eyes that didn't match his smile. "What are your life ambitions?" the marksman asked and as the kids told him what they hoped to become when they grew up (a bar owner, a carpenter, and a writer) he said with a trembling voice, "W-while not losing sight of our ambitions, swear that y-you'll go on the road you've chosen! Starting today, the Usopp Pirates are disbanded!" with that all four former members started crying tears of both joy and sorrow.

**Scene Break**

Luffy pulled a fishbone out of his mouth that had gotten caught in his throat while Nami and Zoro berated him on chewing before swallowing. After they had finished their meal, the door to the inn opened and in walked Kaya. Nami asked the girl if she was feeling alright enough to be up and about and the heiress explained that she couldn't be weak with Usopp encouraging her all this time. She then gave a bright smile and said, "So, I heard that you guys need a ship?" much to Luffy's excitement.

**Scene Break**

The Straw Hats found themselves at a nearby beach where one of Kaya's other butlers; a goat-faced man named Merry greeted them. Both Kaya and Merry showed a boat that was a floating caravel, with a goat shaped figurehead with cartoonish eyes and curly horns, a brightly colored deck and stripped sails, and canons pocking out at different sides including under the goat's head. Merry said merrily (bada-bing!), "This ship is of a slightly old style but I designed it myself. It's a caravel that uses a staysail; the controls are in the back. It's called the 'Going Merry'!" He then started to explain the controls to the ship to Luffy, who just gave a blank stare before Nami called the man over and told him to explain it to her, since her captains a dunderhead.

Luffy happily exclaimed, "This is a cool ship!" to which Kaya told him that she had the ship stocked for their voyage, and Luffy thanked the girl sincerely. Suddenly, the group heard a shrill scream and turned to the hill only to see Usopp, in a bag packed with what looked like the entire inside of a house, came rolling down the hill at worrying speeds. Before the rolling boy could crash into the Going Merry, both Zoro and Luffy stopped the human boulder by placing their feet up and accidently kicking Usopp square in the face. After shaking off the mild concussion he had, Usopp turned to Kaya.

"Are you leaving to the sea Usopp?" Kaya said in a sad but understanding voice.

"Yeah, I'm leaving before I change my mind, so please don't try and stop me," Usopp said in determined voice.

"I won't, I was actually expecting it. It still makes me really sad though to see you go," explained Kaya.

"The next time I come to the village, I'll tell you adventure stories that are even more unbelievable than lies!" stated Usopp to which Kaya giggled and said, "I look forward to it!"

Usopp then turned to say goodbye to the Straw Hats but before he could Zoro shot out, "Hurry up and get on board!" and Usopp gave the intelligent reply of, "Huh?"

Luffy stated plainly, "You're already our companion, aren't you?"

Usopp stood gawking for a moment before he happily asked, "Can I be the captain," and Luffy shouted out, "No way! I'm the captain!"

After tearful goodbyes were said, the Going Merry hoisted anchor and set sail, with the crew toasting there latest crewmate and friend!

**AN:** So here we are again. Sorry it took so long to update but this was my longest chapter to date, plus I had work and I wanted to go over some of my other stories and ideas before updating this. Now I plan on writing just one more full time story with possibly some challenge fics here and there. I hope I made the fight scenes exciting enough for you! Now you may have noticed that the animals I've picked for Luffy were all some of the fastest land animals alive today, with the exception of the bear which was needed for speed. I've also pointed out one weakness to the Chimera-Chimera Fruit that Luffy hasn't been able to overcome (yet), and there will still be much more animals and abilities that he'll use/discover in upcoming chapters. It'll really start getting interesting during the CP9 arc, so stay tuned! The scenes not involving Luffy were all the same as canon so if you haven't seen them yet please try to as soon as possible or you might wind up feeling a bit lost. My new story will be posted next and then I'll try updating 'Naruto and Tora', then 'Kid Kyubi', and then 'Jealous Fox', so it may be awhile before this updates again, especially since schools starting again soon, but I won't use that as an excuse! I'll try updating my stories as fast as possible so in the meantime, please Read and Review! Keep on being awesome guys!


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